Winchesters: The Next Generation
by EL Hyland
Summary: Dean and Sam have three kids between them currently living with Jody Mills. When they get a call from Claire, they quickly realize they need to be more active in their children's lives and move them to the bunker. Dean has Maggie, 16, and Ben, 15, and Sam has Luke, 12. Series starts in season 11.
1. Chapter 1

Dean and Sam headed to South Dakota after getting a phone call from Claire asking for help on a case. They never missed an opportunity to visit, but it was usually limited to stopping by if they had a case in the area or nearby, and when they briefly stopped in to pick up the kids for a weekend at the bunker. Jody had really helped them out the last few years by letting all three of the kids live with her, but now she had Alex and Claire too and they knew she was struggling.

They didn't want their kids growing up in motels and moving around constantly like they did. They wanted to keep them with their mothers and family, and they did for a long while, but one by one Dean and Sam became the only real family any of them had left. They thought about moving them into the bunker and trying to make a go at being a normal family, or as best as they could manage, but Jody intervened and offered them up another solution. It wasn't easy, and they often wondered if they were doing the right thing.

Sam had Luke, who was twelve and born when Sam and Jess were twenty two, a few months before the end of college and a few months before Jess' untimely death. The circumstances surrounding her death and Luke's life echoed that of Sam's first few months on earth. Sam gave Luke to Jess' parents and went on the road with Dean in an attempt to give him a normal life. When they passed, Luke only had Sam left, and lately Sam had been thinking more and more about bringing the kids to the bunker.

Ben was fifteen, and it took him a long time to forgive Dean for leaving, and for what happened to his Mom. Although it wasn't Dean who killed her, his lifestyle contributed to it and they all knew it. Ben didn't want to be with Dean, so living with Jody was an easy choice for him, even if it wasn't an easy one for Dean. But, now that he was fifteen he wanted to be with Dean, and Dean wanted them to be together too.

And, then there was Maggie. She was Dean's sixteen year old daughter. Her Mother was a witch, and Dean and her told Maggie the same story. They were young and in love, real love that they found because they both had secrets they were dying to tell people. They understood each other, and the world they lived in, but their families didn't understand their relationship and it ultimately kept them a part.

Dean didn't even know about Maggie until she was twelve and she tracked him down. She was only able to do that because he put roots down with Lisa. Her Mother was killed by a hunter, and when Dean went back to that life it was hard for her. He pretty much dumped her at Jody's with the boys, it didn't make things any better for their relationship, but Maggie bonded with Jody and they leaned on each other. And then, she bonded with Alex and Claire and now she didn't want to move to the bunker.

Ben and Luke had good relationships with their dads, and if Maggie was being honest, she wanted that with Dean. She just resented the fact that she had to choose between the two homes, like she was a child of divorce. It was hard for both her and Dean, that bond didn't come naturally and they were still working on it.

Dean and Sam had tried their best to keep their kids out of hunting. Maggie wasn't all that interested, she was good at research, but she wasn't much of a hunter. Dean taught her self defense and she knew the basics of how to protect herself from most things, but it was just enough to survive or help in an emergency and he was glad she didn't seem to express much interest in the actual fighting of it. Or, so he thought, but a part of him knew that was too good to be true.

Dean and Sam tried to keep Ben and Luke out of the hunting lifestyle and on the "normal" life path too, but it wasn't easy. They were trained too, they didn't go on hunts and they didn't work on cases, but that still didn't keep them from asking questions and wanting to be involved. They were much more interested in it and they knew they would probably end up just like their Dads.

Jody had just picked Alex, Maggie, Ben and Luke up from school. Usually, Maggie drove them all, but her car was getting some work done. Dean and Sam had given her one of the cars from the bunker to make things easier for everyone. It gave Jody a break with school drop offs and pickups, and it made visiting the bunker on weekends easier.

They were all unaware Claire had called Sam and Dean, so they were surprised when they pulled into the driveway and saw the impala. Jody, Alex and Maggie knew enough to be concerned about the situation, but the boys were excited that their Dads were inside. It could have been a nice surprise, sometimes they did that, but usually when they showed up unexpected red flags went up.

"Why would they be here?" Alex asked.

"I don't know," Jody said. "I didn't throw up the bat signal."

Maggie shrugged. "Don't look at me, I didn't call them."

She was a little jealous when she watched how easily Luke and Ben bonded with their Dads and were able to immediately greet them. For Maggie, it always felt like she was at an arm's distance with them. They did the best they could, and she knew that. They called every night and any weekend they didn't have a case they'd spend together, but sometimes you needed more than that.

"Well, there goes the neighbourhood," Jody said as she walked into the house and hugged the guys. "Hi."

"It has been too long," Dean said as he hugged her too.

Dean reached out for Maggie after he hugged Jody and she went into his embrace. She wanted him around more, she just didn't know how to tell him. "Hi Dad," she said quietly.

"Hi baby," he kissed her head and smiled as they separated.

"Is everything okay?" Jody asked.

"I called them," Claire said. "About the monsters you refuse to believe are monsters."

"Oh you've got to be kidding," Jody sighed and rolled her eyes. Claire followed the rest of the kids out of the room. They had a tendency to leave whenever Claire started in with Jody about monsters. It was easier to just stay out of it.

Jody turned to Dean. "If you would have checked in with me I could have saved you a trip." She said.

"Well, we figured we owed you a visit," Dean said.

"Kid update?" Sam asked her as they followed her into the kitchen with the groceries.

"Four out five," she shrugged. "Can you guess who's causing the trouble?"

Dean nodded. "Claire," he said. "Ours are good though?"

"Yeah, for the most part," she shrugged with a grin. "A few things here and there, but mostly its normal teenage behaviour. I could use the backup with Claire, though. So, settle in and I'll get dinner ready."

The table was even fuller than it usually was, but there was plenty of food to go around. Jody sat at one end, Dean at the other. Alex, Claire and Maggie sat on one side, and Sam sat with the boys on the other side. For the most part the girls picked at their food while the boys devoured it, no surprise there, but it had been a while since Sam or Dean had a home cooked meal and it showed.

"This is amazing," Dean said. "You eat like this every night?"

"It's just chicken," Jody shook her head with a smirk.

"Can we get to the case?" Claire interrupted. "Three people are missing."

"There is no evidence that shows they didn't just skip town on their own." Jody argued.

Alex rolled her eyes when Claire talking about monsters and reached for Jody's wine glass. "Hey," Jody said. "Put it back."

Maggie reached for Dean's glass, surprised that he didn't object. "Really?" she asked with a grin when he didn't stop her.

Dean shrugged. "You won't like it."

"No," Jody said and Dean took the glass out of her hand.

"Guys," Claire said seriously, attracting their attention. "There is something out there."

"We've hunted on less," Sam said, weighing it out.

"What else you got?" Dean asked.

"I'm working on it," she mumbled and looked down, picking at her food. Dean frowned as he watched her and then glanced at Maggie, who was also acting a little suspicious. She was being quiet, too quiet.

"Claire did catch a werewolf," Ben smirked.

"Turned out to be a German Shepard with rabies," Alex corrected.

"There was a vampire, too." Luke said.

"A councilwoman into some R rated stuff," Jody clarified.

"Wow," Dean said. "You've been busy."

"I've been hunting," Claire said.

"Also known as menacing innocent people," Jody said. "Claire has a whole string of assaults racked up, the only reason she's not sitting in jail right now is because I'm the sheriff."

"Fine, I've been wrong." Claire admitted. "But, this time I know there's a monster."

"Can we stop talking about monsters and hunting?" Alex said. "What about real life?"

"Real life?" Claire mocked. "Fine, let's get real. When are you and Henry heading up to Jody's cabin to screw yourselves silly?"

Things got incredibly awkward from there and Maggie avoided eye contact with Dean as Jody tried to have a sex talk with Alex at the dinner table in front of everyone. Maggie figured Jody thought it was easier to talk to everyone at once, but it wasn't a fun conversation, other than her Dad and Sam being more uncomfortable then all of them combined, which was slightly amusing.

"Nice ambush in there," Dean said to Jody in the kitchen. "Thought we were going to be helping you with monsters not birth control."

"Welcome to my world," Jody said. "Don't get me wrong, I love those kids, but I am hanging on by my fingertips. The last guy Claire pegged as a monster, she held a sword to his throat."

"Honestly, I thought it would be Alex with the adjustment issues," he said.

"It was rough going there too," she said. "But, this year everything clicked for her."

"Yeah, I know, I barely recognized her." He said.

"But even there, I feel like I should teach her things and talk to her like a Mom," she said. "But I'm not their Mom, any of them. I didn't raise these kids. I don't have that kind of history with them."

"Well, we can talk to Claire, get her settled down," Dean said.

Jody sighed. "It's not just Claire busting heads."

Dean frowned. "There's more?" he asked. "If it's one of ours, you let us know, we'll get them back in line."

"It's Claire, she started college but she hasn't been to classes in weeks, she doesn't have any friends," Jody said. "She spends all her time trolling for cases and reading lore."

Dean's frown deepened. "That doesn't sound good."

"You know, I have nothing against hunting, but if she's hiding in it because she has nothing else, I'm worried about her being so lonely," she said. "You trust me with your kids to keep them out of this, and the more Claire gets involved in it, the more I see her pulling in the others, especially Maggie."

"Ever since we found Claire and we saw what happened to her after Cas took her Dad away," Dean shook his head. "Sam and I keep wondering if we're doing more damage being away from them. We wanted them to have a normal life, but having a part-time Dad isn't normal."

"You're a good father, Dean." She said.

"Am I?" He frowned. "I talk to them on the phone a few times a week, visit a few times a month, and show up to discipline them when one steps out of line. That's basically how I was raised, and it's not enough. I keep telling myself I'm doing the best I can, but I don't know if that's true anymore."

"You know I love those kids, and there is always a place for them here, but don't be thinking you'll hurt my feelings," she said. "I understand you have to do what's best, and if you want my opinion, I think the boys need more from you two."

"And, Maggie?" He raised his eyebrows.

"I think she wants more from you, but she's having a hard time asking for it," she said. "I see her and Claire talking about hunting and sometimes I wonder if she's trying to get your attention."

Dean sighed. "I hope not."

OOOOO

Claire and Maggie were the same age, both had lost their Mother's and had their Father's lives consumed by the supernatural life. Claire wanted to hunt, but Maggie was more interested in the research aspect. Her Mother was a witch, a good one, and she was starting to teach her when she was killed. However they came to be, they actually made a pretty good team and they had secretly met up a few times to take down some low level supernatural beings. Claire was badass and fearless, and Maggie was smart and strategic.

"This is the stupidest thing we've done," Maggie mumbled to Claire as they approached the police tape. She flashed a fake badge as she held up her camera. "Forensics."

The officer stepped aside and held up the police tape, letting them duck under it to examine the scene. Claire turned and grinned. "Well, it worked." She said.

"Of course it worked, it was my idea." she said. "Your idea of junior FBI agents would have gotten us laughed off the scene."

"Yeah, well, we didn't all grow up Winchester with hunting hard wired into our DNA." She said.

Maggie smirked before turning serious as she looked down at the bodies. "Well, that's not normal."

She snapped a few photos to make it look convincing as Claire eavesdropped on some of the detectives to get the story. "They think it was an animal attack," she said.

Maggie shrugged. "Technically, it is."

"Yeah, well, what animal just takes the heart? We'll stake it out and go tonight," she said. "I've got some silver blades, no bullets though."

Maggie had a bad feeling about this hunt and she was right. Things started going south pretty fast when two werewolves showed up, instead of just one. They were losing, so even Claire was never happier to see Sam and Dean crashing the scene. Maggie had her back turned and took a last ditched effort and tried a spell, moving some furniture around, effectively taking one out and saving Claire before the other one knocked her across the room in an effort to stop her.

"Hey, hey," Sam said as he rushed to her side, kneeling down to check her out as Dean fired silver bullets into both werewolves. She had cut her arm on some broken glass, but it wasn't deep enough for stitches. "You're alright. It's going to be fine."

"What the hell are you two doing?" Dean roared as he glanced from one girl to the other.

"Hunting," Claire said, trying to downplay the events. "Note to self, silver blades are not enough against pure bread werewolves jonesing for those human hearts."

Maggie looked to Dean, leaning a little more into Sam for protection. "It was stupid," she said. "We thought we could handle it."

"You're damn right it was stupid," Dean snapped. "Get in the car, now."

He walked off and she looked up at Sam, who nodded and pulled her to her feet. "We'll clean it up," he said. "Go take care of your arm."

It wasn't a pleasant drive back to Jody's, and Maggie and Claire were glad it wasn't a far drive. After Claire was locked out of the case she found in town, she found another one a few towns over and she convinced Maggie to tag along. She figured if she had Maggie with her it would look less suspicious, but she never factored in that Dean and Sam would be more watchful of Maggie.

Dean was pretty angry as he drove, he glanced at Maggie in the rear view mirror a few times but she was avoiding making eye contact with him. She knew the best thing to do when he was like this was to just stay quiet. That wasn't Claire's style, but this time she decided to follow suit.

When they got to the house the girls bolted from the car before he even had a chance to put it into park. Maggie headed to the bathroom to clean and bandage her arm, but Jody stopped Claire in the kitchen. She figured that Sam had given her a heads up of what they had been up to. Dean and Sam weren't far behind them, and the boys were in the living room playing video games.

"How's your arm?" Sam asked, leaning against the door frame with crossed arms.

"Just a little sore," she mumbled. "It stopped bleeding."

"Let me see it," he said. She took the bandage off and let him clean it out. There was some glass stuck inside, but he was being gentle. "You know you shouldn't have been out there without us, right?"

"I know," she sighed. "But, I couldn't let Claire go alone either."

He raised his eyebrows at her. "You could have been killed."

"I don't know what you want me to say," she mumbled. "I know I shouldn't have gone, I know it could have turned out worse, pointing all that out doesn't fix it."

Sam sighed and finished wrapping his arm before he put his hands on her shoulders. "I love you," he said as he kissed her head. "Don't scare me like that again."

Maggie let Sam guide her back out to the dining room where Dean was standing with his arms crossed as Jody talked to Claire at the table. Sam sat down at the table with them, Maggie lingered in the doorway and Dean headed into the kitchen to grab a few beers. He needed to talk to Maggie about this, but it wasn't going to be easy.

"It's late," Sam said as he nodded at Ben and Luke in the next room. "Go on to bed, boys."

"Maggie, sit down," Dean gestured for her to sit down across from him as he joined the others at the table. "We need to discuss some things."

"So, Claire was trolling for cases, you found one, you lied and you put yourselves in danger," Jody said. "Did we get that right?"

"Pretty much," Claire nodded. "It was obvious it was a werewolf."

"You want to explain to us what was going on in your head back there?" Dean asked Maggie. "Where did you get the idea you could hunt on your own?"

"They had no idea what they were dealing with," Claire answered for her. "They thought it was an animal attack, but the body had a missing heart."

"How did you even get on scene?" Sam asked.

"Maggie," Dean directed the question when Claire was about to answer again.

"I took my camera and said we were forensics," she said. "Claire made some badges. She was going to go with or without me. I didn't know what to do."

"You call us," Dean said shortly. "This wasn't a moment of opportunity, you were working a case and you could have called us at any time. You should have, and you know that."

"Yeah, I know." She mumbled. "I guess part of me wanted to see if we could do it."

"You're not ready, either of you." Sam said. "You both proved that tonight. You don't have the experience to go it alone."

"What was the plan?" Dean asked more calmly. "If we didn't show up, what would you have done? Because, from where we were standing you two were about to be the next set of victims."

"No, we weren't," Maggie sighed as she glanced at Claire. "I had a spell, a few of them actually."

"Excuse me?" Dean frowned as he exchanged a glance with Sam. "Listen, I know your Mom taught you some stuff, and it's a part of who you are, but if you're going to practise magic, or you want to, you need to tell us."

"What were you going to do?" Sam asked, he was more shocked than angry like his brother.

Maggie looked from Sam to Dean to Jody before she spoke. "I know a few pyro spells, and telekinesis, and healing. Those are the first things I was taught, all for defense, but it was stronger tonight when I was in actual danger."

"Okay," Jody nodded. "When did you start practicing?"

Maggie shrugged. "I never really stopped, but I guess I started getting back into it about a year ago." She said. "I didn't tell any of you because I didn't want to make it a big thing."

"We don't want you getting used," Dean said. "Hunters get witches killed. I don't have to tell you that."

"You mean hunters kill witches," she said.

"No, I mean helping hunters has gotten witches hurt or killed," he explained. "We've seen it happen, and I don't want to see it happen to you."

"Yeah, I know." She mumbled.

"You know what, girls," Jody said. "I think we need some time to talk alone."

"I'll be in to talk to you in private later." Dean said, nodding toward the hallway and wanting to leave it at that. He knew not to push her, she didn't respond well to that, she responded better to concern and comfort, as opposed to the tough love he was raised on.

Sam watched them go before he turned back to his brother. "She's going to keep testing her abilities," he said.

"I know," Dean nodded.

"She already has quite a bit," all three of them jumped at the sound of Castiel's voice. They would never get used to him just popping in. "I keep an eye on Claire, her and Maggie have hunted before and she has used her magic to get them out of some situations."

"And, you didn't think to tell me about it?" Dean frowned.

"Or, me?" Jody asked.

"I wasn't aware you didn't know about it, you knew Claire was hunting," he said. "Maggie's Mother's family is powerful, she's powerful. She could be useful."

"I'm not using my kid as a weapon," Dean said shortly.

"She could save you," Cas argued. "And, it's good to have a witch in your corner."

Dean was silent, he wasn't changing his mind, but he glanced at Sam and was surprised to see him shrug. Dean raised his eyebrows at his brother. "We'd keep her safe," Sam said. "And, he's right, there may come a time when we need her."

"Are you kidding?" Dean frowned. "Why don't we just take Luke and Ben on our next hunt while we're at it?"

"That's different," Sam shook his head. "She could help."

"I want to help," Maggie reappeared in the room with Claire, they had heard everything and were obviously listening.

"This is not a discussion," Dean let his voice drop into that Winchester famous growl. "You lied to us. You've been hunting before today?"

"Yeah, a few times," she said quietly. "But, it wasn't a big deal."

"Maggie," Dean warned and shook his head.

"How many times have you died, both of you?" She argued. "How many times did you almost die?"

"Enough," Dean snapped. "This is not a discussion. You are not hunting, not now, not ever."

"Why are you always pushing me away?" She said and he could hear the hurt in her voice before she disappeared out of the room.

"Dude, not cool," Claire said. "If it makes you feel any better, I talked her into it every time and I'm pretty sure she only came to make sure I didn't get killed. Whenever the case was a bust, she never came. All those times I was wrong, she didn't come."

"How many times were you right?" Jody asked.

"Only like four or five," she said. "It was all low level stuff too, a few ghosts, a lone vamp, and a demon once, that's when Maggie used her magic. She's good at this, like really good."

"Thank you Claire," Jody nodded and she disappeared down the hall and into her room. "This is what I was telling you, I feel like she's trying to get your attention with hunting."

"Dad," Luke appeared in the hallway wearing plaid PJ bottoms and a black t-shirt.

"What's wrong, buddy?" Sam asked, as he turned in his chair.

"Maggie's crying in our room," he said. He shared a room with Luke, and the girls shared the other room. "Ben said to get Uncle Dean."

"Go talk to her," Sam said to his brother.

Dean left the table and headed down the hall to the boy's room. He was still upset about the situation, but he was angrier with himself for not being involved enough in his daughter's life to catch this and know what she has been up to. Luke had left the door open a little and he paused to listen to his children. Maggie had changed into yoga pants and one of Dean's old hoodies, it made him smile to see her wearing it. She had thrown her hair up and taken off her make-up, which was good because Luke was right, she was crying.

They were sitting on the floor between the two beds, and Ben had his arm around his sister. Maggie was crying less now, she seemed to have settled down at bit, but Dean could tell from her voice and red eyes that she had been crying pretty hard. Now, she was just tearing up a bit and wiping at her face as she sniffed.

"Why do you go with Claire anyway?" Ben asked.

"So, she doesn't get herself killed," she said. "She gets in over her head and if something happened to her it would destroy Jody."

"It would destroy Dad if you got killed," he said. "He doesn't want us hunting right now."

"He doesn't want us hunting at all, Ben. I don't even think he wants us," she said miserably. "He dumped us here so he could keep hunting, and now he probably hates me."

"He doesn't hate you." Ben shook his head. "Remember when he wasn't hunting, and I found the guns in the garage? He got so mad, and I thought he was mad at me, but turned out he was just scared."

Dean took that moment to walk into the room. Listening to that conversation was breaking his heart. Ben got up to leave the room, but Dean waved him off, gesturing for him to sit back down. He dropped to the floor, sitting across from them. Maggie wiped at her face when he came to sit down, trying to hide how upset she was.

"I'm not pushing you away from me," he explained. "I'm trying to push you away from hunting."

"It doesn't feel like that," she said.

"I'm trying to keep you safe, and this isn't easy for me, being away from you two," he said. "Lately, I've been wondering if maybe we should move you guys to the bunker permanently."

"I like it here," she said. "I just wish you were here too."

"Me too," Ben nodded.

Dean sighed. "I'm going to talk to Sam, and then we'll all talk about changing our system."

"Maybe you should only hunt during the week," Ben suggested. "Then, we'd at least be together every weekend."

"That's what this started as," Maggie said. "It never worked out like that. You never pass up a case unless something is going on with one of us."

"Is that why you've been hunting?" he raised his eyebrows at her. "You knew I'd find out sooner or later, and that I wouldn't be happy about it."

"I don't know, maybe I wanted you to find out, because then you'd show up here," she admitted. "I'm scared, and Jody's gun and Claire's sword can only protect us from so much."

"Hey," Dean frowned and shook his head. "I'm not going to let anything happen to any of you."

"How can you protect us if you're not here?" She asked.

"So, you want to learn more spells to protect everyone?" Dean frowned with a nod. "You still should have told me."

"Dad, you're not here enough," she said. "The older you get, the more unstable your magic becomes if you don't practice. It builds, I need to harness it."

"You're sixteen and I'm still your Dad, whether I'm here or not." He said as he glanced at Ben. "That goes for both of you, you don't keep things from me, you got it?"

They nodded and Sam walked into the room with Luke and closed the door behind them. Dean rose and pulled both Ben and Maggie up with him. "It's late," he said. "We should all get some rest."


	2. Chapter 2

Maggie tossed and turned most of the night, her dreams were plagued with images from the hunt and her heart was filled with sadness and guilt. Hunting with Claire had scared her, if Dean and Sam didn't save them, they may not have made it out. And, she felt guilty for lying about it and sad because she wished her Dad was around more. When she saw daylight break from beneath the curtains in their room, she slipped out of the room and headed into the kitchen.

She made a pot of coffee, she didn't really like it but she liked the smell and she liked its ability to wake her up. She poured a cup and slipped on some slipper boots and headed outside to the front porch. It was quiet, so quiet that she took comfort in it as she watched the sun start to rise. There was something about early mornings, when everything and everyone was starting to wake up and the peacefulness of just before the rush.

Sam was the next one up, it wasn't uncommon for him to rise early and he typically was awake before Dean. He was a bit surprised he was awake before Jody, but he wasn't surprised at all that the teenagers weren't up, even on a school day. As he came down the hall from taking a quick shower, he noticed the pot of coffee first and frowned when he saw Maggie sitting on the front porch.

Maggie didn't have to turn around to know it was Sam. He had a calming presence and anyone else would have asked her what she was doing from the doorway, only Sam would come and sit next to her because he already understood why she was out there. Her eyes were on her mug as a frown played on her face.

"You know, Dean reminds me so much of our Dad," he spoke softly. "It took me a long time to realize he was only ever trying to protect us, no matter how strict he was, or how his worry always came across as anger. When you know what's out there, the fear cripples you once you have children and you don't want this life for them."

"Yeah, well, you don't give us much of a choice." She said. "Why aren't we enough for you to walk away?"

"You are, and we tried, but this life still came after us," he said. "I went to college, had a girl I loved and a baby boy, and was on the road to becoming a lawyer. Dean had that apple pie life with Lisa and Ben, and then you. And, both times, our past eventually caught up with us."

"You both went back to it," she said. "You don't know how to do anything else, and even if we do, hunting is always going to be a part of who we are."

"But, it doesn't have to be your whole life," he said. "We don't want you to go looking for cases because they draw you in. It happened to Dean, it happened to me, hell, it even happened to Claire. We want more for you out of life than chasing revenge you may never get, and even if you do," he shook his head. "There is no guarantee it will be enough. I got my revenge ten years ago, but by then, this was my life and I couldn't walk away."

Maggie put her empty coffee mug down and leaned against Sam's shoulder, linking her arms around one of his. "I miss my Mom," she mumbled. "I found Dad and for a few months I finally had two parents. I lost her and then it was like I lost him too, and it feels like the only way to be a part of his life is to be a hunter. But, this is what she did too, and I feel closer to her when I use magic."

"I get it, sweetheart, I really do." He said. "I think your Dad sees so much of his life in yours and he doesn't want yours to be an echo of his. He's trying to give you the kind of life we never had. We want to do better by our kids."

"I don't want to constantly move around and live in motels," she said. "But, you don't do that anymore, you have the bunker."

"And, we've thought about that," he nodded. "But, you would have to move to Kansas, and drive twenty minutes to a school in the next county, and you could never have friends over, and there would be times when we'd be gone for days. You'd have to help out a lot and that isn't fair to you."

"Better than the six-hour drive between us now," she said. "Jody is having a hard time too now that there are five of us. Alex was pretty damaged, and Claire, well you know, so I've already been helping out a lot."

"We'll talk about it later, I promise," Sam sighed as he glanced at his watch. "You need to get ready for school."

Maggie left the front porch and headed down the hall to get ready for school. She showered quickly, straightened her hair and put on mascara before changing into a V-neck white t-shirt, cropped jeans with holes in the knees, and a black leather jacket. She slipped on black ankle boots, grabbed a black, burgundy and white plaid scarf to wrap around herself, put on her aviators, grabbed her bag and met the others at the door.

Claire smirked when she saw her. "Hey Alex, does it bother you that Maggie always looks way better than you without even trying, when you spend two hours getting ready every morning?"

"Shut up, Claire." Alex said. "But yeah, seriously, how do you do that?"

Maggie shrugged. "I was blessed with great hair and skin, kind of half the battle."

"Well, lucky you," she said. "Come on, I need to meet up with Henry and Mr. P before my test."

"Yeah, fine," Maggie said as she went to the kitchen to look for her keys.

"What's with the sunglasses?" Dean asked as he handed her the keys and her lunch. "Are you going to investigate a crime scene in the dark?"

"I'm tired," she said. "And, I'm driving."

"And, we're going to be late," Alex said from the doorway.

"Right," Maggie nodded with a sigh. "See you after school."

"Have a good day," Dean smirked as he sipped his coffee.

Maggie was in a daze as she dropped Luke off at the middle school and parked at the high school, getting out of the car with the others. Ben ran off to meet up with his friends almost immediately, and Alex greeted Henry, who was parked and waiting beside them. Maggie followed behind them absent mindedly and almost walked right into Alex when she suddenly stopped. She didn't have to ask what was wrong, her eyes were immediately drawn to the scene.

She took off her sunglasses and she saw Mr. Phelps hanging upside down from the flag pole. Many of the students were gathering and looking around, not knowing what to do or think. It was rather traumatizing if you had never been around dead bodies, but even Alex was in complete shock. Mr. Phelps was a popular teacher, so that made everything harder.

Ben came walking over to Maggie and Alex, but he wasn't able to say much because of the other students. Jody and the police arrived pretty quickly, and then they saw the impala. Sam and Dean stepped out, dressed in suits and trench coats, looking the part of FBI agents. It wasn't long before Claire also showed up and crashed the scene, much to the dismay of all of the adults involved.

It wasn't a secret, it was the story Ben and Maggie told, that there Dad was an agent who worked a lot of cases and that's why they stayed with Jody. They even used the same last name as one of his badges to make it more convincing when he did visit, and to stay hidden from anything from Dean or Sam's past that may want to hurt them by getting to their kids. Enrolling their kids with the last name Winchester could lead things right to them, so they were known as Ben and Maggie Noon, and Luke Elliot as far as Sioux Falls was concerned.

"You guys okay?" Jody asked the three teenagers as they crossed the police tape to join her and Sam. Dean had pulled Claire a few feet away and was having a conversation with her.

"Fine," Alex said. "Can I go with Henry for a bit?"

"Sure, but be home for dinner," Jody said. "And, keep your phone on."

"What about you two?" Sam asked. "You should check in with your Dad."

"I'm going home to nap," Maggie said. "He can't have a problem with that."

"I want to go hang out with some of the guys," Ben said.

"Fine with me if your Dad is okay with it," Jody nodded.

The four teenagers walked toward Dean and Claire, effectively cutting their conversation short when Dean spotted Henry with Alex. He was suddenly reminded of the conversation they had the other night, the awkward sex talk that revealed Alex was on birth control and preparing to hook up with Henry at some point. "They cancelled school, "Alex said. "So, were going to hang out, I guess."

"Hang out, huh?" Dean said, staring them both down. Claire and Maggie exchanged a glance and tried to keep from laughing, Ben was less successful and turned away from the situation.

"Uh, yeah," Alex nodded and walked away with Henry.

"I want you two to go home and wait until we get there," Dean said.

"I want to hang out with the guys," Ben said. "Jody said I could."

Dean sighed. "Fine, but be careful, don't go off on your own, and answer your phone if I call."

"Deal, thanks Dad!" Ben called and ran off toward the group of guys hovering around the curb on the other side of the street.

"You two need to go back to the house," Dean said. "Maggie you're still grounded, and Claire, you need to think about what I said. You need to show Jody some respect, and the best way to do that right now is to stay out of this publically."

"Fine," Claire sighed. "But, I'm still looking into it from home."

"I was going home anyway," Maggie said. "I'm tired."

Dean frowned and felt her head and face. "You're warm, baby," he said. "Are you sure nothing else is wrong?"

"I don't know," she shrugged. "I just don't feel well."

"She's pregnant," Claire said, and Maggie shoved her lightly. She was just trying to get under Dean's skin, but Maggie didn't like that it was being done at her expense. "I'm kidding."

"Alright," Dean said, trying not to give in to Claire's game. "I'll check on you two later, and you better be at home."

He watched them walk away for a few moments before he headed back over to Sam and Jody. It was getting harder being away from them, especially in moments like this one when one of them was sick or upset. And, now that there was danger here in their town, it only reminded them that they couldn't shelter them from everything, no matter how hard they tried.

They decided to split up to work the case. Dean checked the school for signs of supernatural while Sam and Jody talked to the principal.

"We'll need to talk to the teachers and staff," Sam said.

"Anything I can do to help," the principal nodded before she turned to Jody. "Do you have a minute? I need to speak with you about Ben."

"Oh, is this a conversation Ben's Father should be present for?" Jody asked. "He is the other agent assigned to this case."

"I think that would be best," she nodded.

"I'll get him," Sam said and went to find Dean. He was scanning one of the nearby halls and it didn't take long to find him. "The principal wants to talk to you about Ben, I'll finish up here."

Dean sighed and handed over the EMF reader and went to meet Jody in the office. "Agent Noon," Dean said, shaking her hand. "What's this about Ben?"

"We've had some behavioural issues lately," she explained. "Ben has always been a pretty good student, but he's fallen in with a rough crowd. His grades have slipped and there have been some issues with his behaviour in class. He was absent from last period yesterday, I was going to call you this morning, Jody."

Dean frowned. "What can you tell me about this crowd?"

"Typical trouble makers," she said. "We see it every year, sophomore year is tough. They are used to the environment of high school now, but they are so far from graduation and college that they don't have much drive. This is when we see problems."

"I will speak with him," Dean said. "There will be no more problems from Ben, trust me."

"I have no doubts," she nodded. "But, if I may be frank, this is the age when it is important for a teenage boy to have that strong male presence in their life. I understand your job makes things difficult, but I believe this might be a cry for attention from you."

"Well, he's got my attention now, he may not like it though." Dean nodded. "What about Maggie?"

"No complaints. She's bright, polite, and very popular with her classmates and the teachers." She smiled. "I will let you get back to work now."

"Thank you," Dean nodded and walked out of the office to meet up with Sam, who immediately asked what the meeting was about. "Ben's been acting up in class, grades slipping and he skipped last period yesterday."

"Did you know any of that?" Sam asked Jody.

Jody shook her head. "No, Ben doesn't act like that with me," she said. "I would have told you."

"He knows better," Dean said. "I'll deal with him tonight, let's finish here."

None of them found much of anything at the school. Dean found no EMF, and Sam and Jody were unsuccessful with the staff. Sam went back to Jody's to do research and Dean went with Jody to the station. Maggie was doing homework at the table while Sam and Claire worked on the case, when Dean and Jody got back with Ben and Luke, who Dean had picked up on his way back to the house.

"Got the results back," Dean said as he walked into the dining room with Jody. "Asbestos."

"So, our killer's fire retardant," Claire said. "What does that mean?"

"Not much yet," Dean said.

"And, the janitor's alibi checks out," Jody said.

"Well, his social security number does not," Sam said. "It belongs to someone who died in 1988."

"And, he started at Marshall a few months ago when the disappearances started," Claire said. "The ones I said were supernatural in the first place."

"We need to talk to this Mr. Wheeler again," Sam said.

"I'm coming with you," Claire said, jumping up. "I have a new Fed suit and I can be your new trainee."

"Okay, hold on there, Quantico," Jody said. "You and I are leaving in a half hour, the registrar, remember? We are not rescheduling again, you are going to beg him to let you re-enrol."

"When there's a killer out there?" Claire snapped, which brought glares from all three adults, but she didn't look like she was about to back down.

"Hey," Dean said, fixing Claire with a look that Maggie knew all too well. Sam was wearing it too, but his was a little softer than Dean's. They both meant the same thing, a warning to get back in line. Claire stared at him and Dean's eyes narrowed and he moved his head slightly, a silent challenge that Claire backed down from with a sigh as she left the room.

Dean turned back to Jody and nodded with a smile, before he exchanged a glance with Sam. They needed to work this case, but Dean needed to talk to Ben first. He was in the living room with Luke, getting ready to start playing video games as usual.

"Ben, front and centre." Dean said roughly, gesturing to the floor in front of him and Sam.

"Luke, do you have homework?" Sam asked with raised brows and Luke nodded. "Then, get to it."

"I spoke with your principal today, anything you want to tell me?" Dean asked once Ben was in front of him.

Ben looked at Dean who was stone faced and waiting for an answer. "I skipped last period yesterday," he said.

"Anything else?" He asked and Ben shrugged and shook his head, not willing to incriminate himself.

"She also said your grades were slipping," Sam added.

"And, you've been acting up in class?" Jody asked. "That doesn't sound like you, Ben."

Ben dropped his head to avoid eye contact and Dean tilted his head trying to catch his son's gaze. "You have anything to say about that?" Dean asked.

"No, sir." Ben mumbled.

"Go on then," he said. "We're going to finish this talk in the garage."

Ben avoided eye contact as he walked out of the front door with Dean right behind him. Jody smiled weakly at Sam before heading to her room to change, and Sam turned back to Maggie and Luke. They weren't going to ask any questions, they all knew what was going on, even if they didn't know the details. They just continued doing their homework like nothing happened.

"Uncle Sam, can you read my English paper?" Maggie asked, trying to distract him. Usually, she emailed her papers to him to look over and edit, but he was here so she just handed him her laptop.

"Is it finished?" He asked as he sat down at the head of the table. She was usually ahead of the game when it came to her school work deadlines.

"First draft is, it's due next week," she said as she pulled out her math textbook to start on her other homework. "But, I'm having issues with my argument and I'm just getting frustrated."

"I'll take a look," he nodded before he turned to his son. "Luke, did you finish your history paper?"

"Not yet," he said.

"It's due tomorrow," Sam said, he kept on top of all their homework assignments and test dates. "How much have you done?"

"Well, I have to write it," he said. "But, I finished the research."

"You haven't started writing it and you were going to play video games?" Sam raised his eyebrows.

"Dad, I just need to write it, I did everything else." Luke argued. "It won't take me long."

"You need to stop procrastinating." Sam said. "If I catch you doing it again, you and I are going to have a chat in the garage. You hear me?"

"Yes, sir." Luke nodded. "I'll finish it tonight."

Sam read over Maggie's paperwork, making some notes as he went. He went through some of the big things with her as he waited for Dean to return. When Dean and Ben came back inside Ben immediately went to his room without looking at or talking to anyone. Sam handed Maggie her computer back and got up from the table.

"We'll finish this later, but it looks good, Maggie. Just leave it alone for a day." Sam said to her before turning to Luke. "Luke, leave your paper out for me, I'll read it when I get back."

"Stay in the house, you can go on a food run, but that's it," Dean said to Maggie. "Watch out for your brother and cousin until we get back."

"Always do," she mumbled.

When Dean and Sam got back to the house they noticed the garage door opened, but the Sheriff truck still inside. Dean surveyed the scene as Sam ran inside to check the house. He called out as he banged on the door and Maggie opened it once she confirmed it was him. Ben was a few feet behind her with a shot gun, and Luke was beside him with the sword Claire kept on her dresser. Maggie didn't need a weapon, she was a weapon.

"Whoa," Sam said as he put his own gun away and pulled the one from Ben's hands. "You guys okay?"

"Fine," Ben nodded.

"What happened?" Sam asked. He took the sword from his son's hand and looped an arm around him, pulling him to his sighed.

"We don't know," Maggie said. "We left a few minutes after you to eat at the diner and came home and found the garage like that. We can't find Jody or Claire. We were just about to call you when we saw headlights."

"We thought whoever took them was coming back," Luke said. "So, we ran inside and locked the door."

"Good job," Sam nodded. "Wait here."

Sam headed back outside to Dean in the garage. "Our kids are inside, they got home just before us," Sam said as Dean held up the blade. "That's Claire's knife?"

"Yeah," Dean said.

"So, whatever it was, it was lying in wait for them," Sam said. "We leave, Maggie leaves, and then it came after them."

Dean pulled his ringing cell from his pocket. "This is Agent Noon," he said as he listened to the call before hanging up. "They identified the janitor, trucker out of O'Neil, Nebraska. He'd been missing for three years, his family was found with their throats ripped out."

"He's a vampire," Sam said. "Wait, isn't that where Alex was from, where her nest was?"

"So, what? This guy is a part of that nest, came here looking for her and found Alex and Jody instead?" Dean processed it. "We've got to warn her."

"You pick her up, I'll check his office, there has to be something there," Sam said as he ran back into the house quickly. "Okay, listen, we're pretty sure the janitor is a vamp looking for Alex and he has Jody and Claire. We're going to get them back, but you need to stay here and not let anyone inside."

"Got it," Ben said as he picked up the gun off the table.

Sam turned to Maggie. "How strong are you?" He asked, and she knew he meant her magic.

"Strong enough to seal the room," she said.

"Do it," Sam nodded and stepped outside the front door. He watched he mumble a few words before she opened her eyes and nodded back at him. He tried to cross the threshold, but he was blocked by an invisible force. "Good, we'll be back. Do not leave."

It was a few hours before they all arrived back, a few of them beaten up, bruised and bloody, but all of them in one piece and alive. Maggie broke the spell and let them all inside. After they were filled in, Alex, Claire and Jody all crashed, but the others were wide awake. Dean and Sam were used to hunts like that, and they needed to unwind with a few beers before they could fall asleep.

Maggie, Ben and Luke were all in the living room on the couch as Dean and Sam spoke low in the kitchen. They figured something was coming, because usually they waited until they had some sense of privacy before they had a family meeting, and now was the perfect time. They came into the room and sat in the chairs across from the couch.

"Alright," Dean said. "The last few days have us thinking we need to make some changes."

"We don't want to pull you out of school until the end of the year," Sam said. "But, we can try and make this situation work out better until summer. Then, we will move you three to the bunker and see how the summer goes."

"We want to hear your thoughts," Dean said. "What do you want?"

"I want something you can't give us," Maggie said. "I want you here, not just when we need you, but when we wake up in the morning, and come home from school, and for dinner every night, and when we go to sleep, I want you down the hall. I want a Dad who is here every day, no one who just come and go when it's convenient."

"Me too," Ben said.

"Yeah, same," Luke nodded.

Dean sighed and ran a hand over his face before he exchanged a glance with Sam. He was better at these type of conversations. "Okay, we want that too." Sam said with a nod, looking at each one of them. "But, we need to compromise on this right now, because you have to finish out the school year."

"Come here every weekend," Ben said. "It's too hard for us to drive six hours Friday night, and then we only see you one day because we have to leave on Sunday morning to get back for school on Monday."

Luke nodded. "If you were here when we got home from school on Fridays, and didn't leave until Sunday night, we'd at least get two days with you."

"You were supposed to be here every weekend," Maggie said. "Hunting always gets in the way and you chose it over us."

"We don't do it on purpose, but we're going to be more mindful of it," Sam nodded. "Alright, you should all get to bed, you have school in the morning."

Ben and Luke said goodnight to their Dads and disappeared down the hall, but Maggie lingered in the room and didn't move from the couch. Sam nodded at Dean and left the room, following the boys. Dean knew something was up with Maggie, more than she was letting on. He blamed himself for her not being able to express her emotions better, she got that from him. They bottled things, pushed their feelings down and never said what they really wanted in fear of being vulnerable.

Dean went to join her on the couch, putting his arm around her and pulling her to his chest. He held her there and rubbed her back. "I'm going to be better about being here more," he said. "You need to be better about telling me what's going on with you. You want to start with why you aren't sleeping?"

"I've been having nightmares since hunting," she admitted. "And, I missed you."

"I miss you too, baby, every day," he kissed her head. "Things are going to change."


	3. Chapter 3

Dean and Sam were good about sticking to the schedule and honoring the deal they made with their kids to show up every weekend. They missed a few here and there, but moving them to the bunker wasn't a good idea until they could get the Darkness until control. Dean was supposed to take care of it, sacrificing himself to destroy the Darkness and save the world, and Sam was then to pick up the kids and explain to them what happened. Neither of them made it to their intended destination, fortunately for Dean, and unfortunately for Sam.

Sam and Castiel arrived back at the bunker to find a woman waiting for them, or waiting for Sam. She blasted Cas away and shot and took Sam. Dean arrived back at the bunker with Mary, a gift from the Darkness for reuniting her with her brother. They found blood on the floor, and Dean was immediately on alert for signs of trouble. He was expecting to find Sam and the kids, and now he wasn't sure who, or what, he was going to find.

He noticed the sign on the wall used to blast Cas away and pulls a gun from under the table. He gives it to Mary and tells her to stay in the common room as he goes looking for signs of anyone. He knew something happened, he just wasn't sure who was all here when it did happen, and who was targeted. There were no signs of anyone in the bunker, but it didn't make him feel any less worried.

While Dean was searching the bunker, Cas returned. Mary was hiding behind a wall, listening as the door opened and footsteps came down the stairs. She waited until the man was in the room with her before she stepped into the open, pointing the gun at him. She had no idea who he was, and he, after being blasted away, was just as confused and suspicious of her as she was of him.

"Hands in the air, get on your knees," she said.

"Who are you?" Cas demanded. "And, where is Sam?"

"Hands now." She said.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa," Dean said, stepping between them and lowering the gun his Mother was pointing at his friend. "It's okay, he's a friend. Hey Cas," he said.

"Dean," Cas said with relief and pulled him in for a hug. "You're alive? What about the bomb and the darkness, what happened?"

"I'll tell you everything," he nodded. "Where's Sam?"

"He's not here," Cas said.

"Are you a hunter?" Mary asked.

"No, he's an angel," Dean said. "This is Castiel, Cas this is Mary Winchester."

Cas studied her for a moment before he glanced back at Dean. "Your Mother," he said.

"Yeah," Dean said. "So, what happened?"

"I don't know, we came back and there was a woman here. She blasted me away," he said. "I don't know who she was, but she was human."

"So, I guess that means you haven't checked on the kids," Dean said as he pulled his phone from his pocket to call Jody. "Hey, yeah, all good. How are they? Of course she did," Dean sighed as the others listened to one side of the conversation. "Yeah, thanks, we'll come visit as soon as we wrap things up here."

"Maggie is very resourceful," Cas said, he had put the pieces together. "I'm surprised she didn't figure out sooner that something was going on."

"Well, she knows now, she made Jody tell her, and she is on her way here with Claire," he shook his head. "She is definitely my daughter."

"Daughter?" Mary asked once he hung up. "You have children?"

"A boy and a girl," Dean said. "Sammy has a boy too."

"Wow," she said, unsure how to react to the news that she was a Grandmother. "And, Jody, is that their Mother, and your wife, or?"

"No, Jody watches the kids for us, so this isn't their life." Dean said. "But, we all know how that goes."

"Are we waiting for them?" Cas asked. "Maggie might be able to track Sam."

As if on que, the door opened and Maggie and Claire entered the bunker. The room fell silent for a moment until the adults could figure out who was coming in. Claire and Maggie also entered hesitantly, not sure what they were walking into. Dean stepped into view and made his way to the stairs once he saw them. Maggie went running down the stairs and jumped into Dean's awaiting arms.

"Daddy," she mumbled as she immediately broke down in tears.

Dean had a hard time holding his emotions in check as he held her close. After a few moments he put her down and put his hands on either side of her face. "What were you thinking, huh?" He said as he wiped away her tears. "Taking off like that is dangerous, and you know better."

"I thought you were gone," she said.

"I'm right here, baby," He soothed and kissed her head. "I'm not going anywhere."

"What happened?" Maggie asked.

"I'll get to it, but first, there is someone I want you to meet," he said as he turned to Mary. "This is Mary, my Mother. Mom, this is Maggie, my daughter."

"Isn't your Mother dead, like really dead?" Claire blurted out. "I mean, nice to meet you and all, and I'm glad Dean didn't sacrifice himself, but how did this happen?"

"She was a gift, from God's sister," Dean said.

"You're beautiful," Mary smiled as she hugged Maggie before glancing between her and Dean. "She has your eyes."

"I know," he smiled at Maggie and she smiled back.

"Not to break up this family moment, but where's Sam?" Claire asked as she glanced around the room and noticed he was missing.

Maggie did a quick glance before turning back to Dean. "Dad?" she frowned.

"We don't know," Dean said. "We're going to go look for him."

"You might be able to help us locate him," Cas said.

"No," Dean interrupted. "Not like that."

"Daddy, it's Uncle Sam," Maggie said. "Let me help."

Dean frowned heavily as he looked down at her. "It's a slippery slope," he said. "I don't want this life for you."

"Too late," she whispered with a smile.

"You're stronger," Cas commented as he studied Maggie. "You've been practising."

Dean raised his eyebrows at her. "You have something you want to tell me?" he asked.

"I – uhm," she squirmed under his gaze. "I may have been practising a little more."

"Can you track a person?" Cas asked. "Have you learned that spell?"

"Tracking? Spells?" Mary said. "Are you a witch?"

Maggie looked from Mary to Dean, she was a little nervous about telling people, but Dean nodded. "Yeah, she is, and a natural one, a good one." He said. "Her Mother was one too, and she died helping hunters. So, forgive me if I'm not jumping up and down at this idea."

"It's just a tracking spell," Claire said. "It's defensive magic she practises, she doesn't do anything dangerous."

"It's all dangerous," Dean growled. "It can attract other witches, covens, and magic has a way of pulling people in deeper and deeper."

"Mom was a good witch," she reminded. "She made sure I knew the difference, and this is family."

Dean sighed heavily. "Fine," he said. "Do it, but only the tracking spell."

Maggie grabbed a map and one of Sam's watches from his room. She rolled the map out on the table and stood over it. She placed the watched between her hands and closed her eyes, concentrating and searching for him. She frowned and shook her head as she opened her eyes.

"What?" Dean asked. "What is it?"

"He's somewhere around here," she pointed to the map. "But, I can't find exactly where, it's like I'm being pushed out. I only saw him for a second."

"It's warded," Cas said. "Wherever they're holding him, it's warded, that's why you were getting pushed out."

"What did you see?" Dean asked and she looked up at him with worried eyes. "That bad?"

"You need to find him," she said. "He's hurt, they're hurting him."

"Yeah, we'll find him," he said as he tried to mask his anger. "But you two are staying here."

"Dad-"

"This is not a discussion," Dean said firmly as he looked at both girls. "You better be here when we get back."

"You better have Sam," Claire mumbled, annoyed that they were being benched. "We're coming after you if we don't hear back by morning."

"You better come back," Maggie said.

Dean took his silver ring off and gave it to Maggie. "Here, track me," he said as he hugged her. "I love you, sweetheart."

"I love you too," she said as he kissed her head and watched them leave the bunker.

Maggie and Claire almost went out of their minds waiting for them to return. They had no idea what they were walking into, or why Sam was taken. It was a surprise for them all, something none of them saw coming. They called Jody to update her and to apologize for running out on her, Alex and the boys. They were all worried, and Ben was mad they didn't take him with them.

"I couldn't bring you or Luke when I didn't know what we were walking into," she said. "Dad could have been gone, or dead. I couldn't let you see that."

"Stop treating me like a kid, Maggie," Ben said. "We are sixteen months a part. That's it."

"There wasn't any time to track you down and go pick you up from whatever basement you were playing video games in with your friends," she said. "I heard what was going on and I bolted from the house. Claire barely had time to get in the car with me."

"Don't give me that," he scoffed. "You could have made time and you know it. You're being a hypocrite, you get mad at Dad for keeping you out of it and then you do the same to me."

"Okay, fine I admit it, I kept you out and now I understand why Dad does it," she said. "You want in? Dad was going to sacrifice himself to the Darkness, who is God's sister, yeah you heard me. But, they made nice and she brought Dad's Mother back from the dead as a gift. And then, Sam went missing and we have no idea who took him, or where they took him, or why they took him. You think you can handle it, you think you can prove you're not a hypocrite too? You can tell Luke all that."

Ben was silent on the other end of the line for a few moments. "Damnit," he mumbled.

"Yeah, that's what I thought." She said. "I'll call you back when I hear from Dad."

"No, I'm coming there," he said and hung up on his sister.

Claire smirked when Maggie lowered her phone. "Wow, you really are like Dean," she said. "That was almost a perfect rendition, the sarcasm, the tone, all of it. Quite impressive."

"Shut up," she said, but she knew it was true the more she thought about it. "He was right, I am a hypocrite."

"Maybe a little," Claire shrugged. "But, there is nothing wrong with protecting the ones you love."

"He said he's coming here," she said. "I wonder if Jody will really bring them."

"Well, if she doesn't, he might pull a you and take a car and leave," she said. "Good luck telling Dean about this one."

Dean called later that night to tell them they had Sam and would be home in the morning. Maggie contemplated telling him about Ben, but she wasn't sure Ben was even going to convince Jody to come to the bunker. So, she didn't tell him, but a few hours later Jody did show up with Ben, Luke and Alex. She didn't stay long, she had to get back to work and she took Claire and Alex back with her, leaving Maggie alone in the bunker with Ben and Luke.

The next morning Dean, Sam and Mary walked into the bunker a little beat up, but alive and safe, or as safe as they could be. They were all asleep, but Maggie was a light sleeper and she heard them come in. They had gone on a food run and were seated around the table when she came out from down the hall.

"Hey," Dean said when he saw her. "Hungry?"

"Not really," she crossed her arms and leaned against the doorway. "Ben and Luke are here. Jody brought them and took Claire back."

Dean sighed. "How much do they know?"

"Everything," Maggie shrugged. "Ben was mad I didn't bring him, and he's pretty much mad at you for everything else."

"I should check on Luke," Sam said.

"Wake Ben on your way," Dean said before turning back to Maggie. "What about you, are you mad at me?"

Maggie shrugged again. "No, I'm not mad at anyone," she said as she walked over to the table. "I don't want to leave you again, though."

"I know, I don't want you to leave either," Dean said as he wrapped his arms around her and she wrapped hers around his waist. She let him hold her, they both needed it. "But, the school year is almost over and you'll be here for the summer."

"I'm not letting you leave me at Jody's while you take off again," Ben said as he came into the room. Sam wasn't far behind him and he had his hands on Luke's shoulders.

"Ben," Sam said, trying to ease the situation. "You have school, and exams."

"I don't care about school," he said. "I'm not going back and you can't make me."

"You want to try that again?" Dean asked him with raised brows.

"What's the point of going back?" he said. "There's only a few weeks left, and who says these people aren't going to find us and take us next?"

"I'm saying that," Dean said. "The point of going back is to finish the year. You'll be safe with Jody."

"Sam wasn't even safe here," he argued. "He got taken from here when Cas was with him, and they tortured him, and you almost didn't get him back."

"That's enough," Dean said as he watched Luke get visibly upset and Sam comforting him. "I'm not having this discussion again."

"What discussion?" he snapped as he turned back toward the hallway. "It's always your way, even when it's the wrong way."

Dean immediately followed him without a word to the others who had all fallen silent in the bunker. It was clear it was an issue between father and son. He caught up to him in the hallway and grabbed him by his upper arm. He pulled him into his room and shut the door behind them.

"You don't get to walk away like that," he said. "And, you sure as hell don't get to speak to me like you just did."

"You're always breaking promises." he said. "You promised we'd find a better way."

"After this school year ends," he reminded.

"And, what would have happened if you actually succeeded in sacrificing yourself?" he asked. "Did you even think about us? How it would break us to learn that you were gone and that you never even gave us the chance to say goodbye? You think there's honor in being the martyr, but you just wanted to be the hero and it's selfish. You're selfish."

"You're right, I should have told you the plan and said goodbye, but there wasn't a lot of time Ben, and I don't know if I could have gone through with it after. It was our last shot at saving the universe." He explained, hoping he would understand. "What is it that you need from me, Ben?"

"I need you," he said. "I need you around more, I need you involved more, I need you to stop almost dying." His voice cracked and he was visibly upset. "Dad, I don't want it to be like this-"

"Okay, hey, listen to me," Dean put his hands on Ben's upper arms in an attempt to comfort him. "You need to finish the school year. I'm not budging on that one, Ben. But, maybe Sam and I can stay at Jody's or nearby until you are done."

"And, then we come here for the summer?" he asked.

"Yeah, and we can talk about plans for next year," he said. "I know this is hard, and we don't make it any easier, but we're doing our best to give you a normal life."

"I don't want normal if it means you aren't there," he said.

"Come here," Dean pulled him into his embrace and held him closely. "I'm not going anywhere, I mean that."

Dean and Ben headed back out to the common area to eat breakfast with the rest of the family. Sam had already introduced Luke to Mary, so Dean followed and introduced Ben. Things were still a little awkward for them all with Mary back, but if there was one consistent thing about their family it was that they didn't dwell on things. After an issue had been dealt with, they moved on, but the issue on what was best for them all hadn't fully been dealt with, and things were still tense.

After breakfast Sam sent the kids to get ready for the day, he suggested they were going to do something, but it was really just an attempt to get them out of the room so Dean and Sam could talk about what to do. Their system hadn't been working for a while, they thought things would be harder when the kids were younger and would get better, but the opposite seemed to be happening.

"You're good with them," Mary said to Dean and Sam. "You're good fathers."

Dean sighed. "Not good enough," he glanced at Sam. "What do you want to do?"

"I don't know," Sam shook his head. "I don't think you're going to get Ben back to Jody's without a fight, and honestly, I don't think Maggie will go at all. She's in this now, and she's strong willed, she's a bit like you when it comes to protecting the family."

"She's exactly like me," Dean said. "It's why I can't blame her, or even get upset about it because I would do the exact same thing, and I have."

"Well, Luke is scared," Sam said. "I don't think he's as interested in hunting as he leads on."

"He's not, he just wants to be close with you," Mary interrupted and they looked to her to explain. "Kids of hunters go one of four ways. All in, like there is something inside them telling them they're meant to do this and they can't ignore it – that's Maggie and you," she said to Dean before she turned to Sam. "Then there are the kids that are in it for revenge – that's you, Sam, and probably Ben at this point. Luke falls under the kids who go along because they feel obligated to or to be close with their parents and bond, they treat hunting as a hobby, and the fourth is the kids who get out, like I did."

Dean ran a hand over his face, she was right and they knew it. "Damn," he mumbled. "You didn't want this life for us, I can't imagine doing anything else, but I know I don't want this for them, but I sound like a hypocrite."

"Maybe we take a break for a few weeks, just until they finish school," Sam said. "Lay low from the British Men of Letters while focusing on them, take a few cases in the area if we have to."

"Probably the best idea," Mary said. "If you want my opinion."

"Of course we do," Sam said.

Dean sighed. "I'll call Jody." He said. "We'll figure something out."


	4. Chapter 4

Dean and Sam were moving some furniture around in Jody's basement, trying to get some things set up to stay there for a few weeks while the kids finished school. Her little house was suddenly very crowded, even more than it was with five teenagers and one parent.

Claire moved in with Alex and Maggie so Mary could have her room, things were still new and anyone sharing a room with her would be a little awkward. Mary almost didn't go with them, but she was still a little lost being back and it was better she wasn't alone. Claire was in and out a lot lately anyway and didn't mind. The boys kept their room and Jody stayed in hers. The basement was rarely used because mostly Jody just had storage down there.

It was easy for them to clean it up and move in some beds. They were used to roughing it and they had stayed in worse conditions during all those years on the road. They liked the bunker, the space and having a place to call their own, but this was temporary and it was what was best for their kids. So, Sam and Dean were back to sharing a living space.

"How's it going down there?" Jody asked when they came up into the kitchen while she was making lunch.

"It's fine," Dean said. "We'll be out of your hair in a few weeks."

"I don't mind," she smiled and handed them each a plate with a sandwich. "But, we do need to talk about the kids."

"We figured there was a reason you weren't at work today," Sam said. "So, who's making waves?"

"Well, there are some things with all three of them that we need to talk about," she said as they sat down at the dining room table.

"That sounds promising," Dean nodded. "Start with Ben. I know there are some behavioral issues there. He's at that age, but I hoped after the last time he'd smarten up."

"Still having the same problems with him at school, he hasn't pulled his grades up and he's been goofing off in class," she said. "He's not skipping school since you had that talk with him, but he's pretty defiant lately, even with me."

Dean frowned. "How long has this been going on? We've been around most weekends, why didn't you tell me?"

"It's been about a month since you guys have been here, and he always falls back in line when you're here, or when I threaten to call you," she said. "But, lately it's been more and more. He takes off after school with those guys and doesn't call, comes home late, doesn't want to be here, and he is always arguing with someone."

"I have a feeling he probably wanted you to call me," Dean sighed. "I'll talk to him again."

"Good, because he was ready to steal a car to get to the bunker that day," she said. "He had some choice words and a lot of anger."

"Oh, I'm aware and that's going to end," Dean said.

"What's going on with Luke?" Sam asked.

"It might resolve itself now that you are here, but he's been having a lot of nightmares," she said.

"Yeah, I think he's finally realized how bad this world can be," Sam said. "That's it, though? Nothing else?"

"Not really, he's only twelve, he still likes us," she smiled before she turned to Dean. "Okay, now Maggie. She's not in any trouble, I need you to remember that when I tell you that she asked me to take her to get birth control last month, and I did take her and she did get it."

Dean was a little shocked and tried to brush it off. "Is she," he cleared his throat. "You know."

"I don't think so," she said. "She's been dating, you know that, but she said she just wants to be prepared. Alex did the same thing, and it's good that they are prepared and protected, which is why I didn't ask your permission to get it for her, but I do feel like you should know about it and you should talk to her about it."

"Does she want to talk to me?" he said. "She went to you."

"Can you blame her? With the way you two acted the last time this was brought up, I didn't even want to talk to you about it again," she said. "Look, I talked to her, but I think you should too, give her another perspective on the issue."

Dean glanced at Sam. "You're better with the whole talking thing," he said.

Sam smirked. "I can talk to her, but you should too."

"But, not together," Jody said. "Don't overthink this, just talk to her."

"About sex and birth control with my sixteen year old daughter?" Dean scoffed. "Yeah, piece of cake."

Maggie walked through the door and the room fell silent with awkward tension. Alex was meeting with a study group, Ben was hanging out with his friends and Sam had soccer practise after school. She stopped and looked around at the adults and immediately knew what they had just been talking about.

She sighed as she looked at Jody. "You told them?"

"I did," she said. "I told you I was going to, that was part of the deal."

"Yeah, but I thought you were just saying that," she mumbled.

"Come on," Dean said as he rose from the table. "Let's go talk."

Maggie followed him to her room and sat on her bed as she closed the door and sat with her. "Look, I know telling you to wait makes me just about the biggest hypocrite there is," he sighed. "But, I do think you should wait. I was your age when I first had sex, and I don't regret it, but there are some things in life you can't do again. You only get one first time, what do you want to remember?"

"I haven't decided anything," she said. "And, considering Ben and I were products of casual sex, a one weekend fling in his case, I just want to be careful."

"Okay, hold on," Dean frowned. "Even if both of you were because I had casual relationships, it doesn't mean you are any less important to me, or that I regret you, or anything negative like that."

"Daddy, I know that," she said. "I just meant I know how easily things can happen, and I don't want it to happen to me."

"You're right, and that's good," he nodded. "But, I was in love with your Mother, and I wish she would have told me about you. I would have been there."

"Then there would be no Ben," she smiled. "I do wish you would have been there when I was younger though."

"So do I," he said. "Look baby, I just wanted to talk to you about this before there is a reason to talk about it. And, so you know that you can talk to me, no matter how awkward things may get."

Maggie laughed. "Thanks, Dad," she said. "But, I took Sex Ed, and I talked to Jody, so I'm okay for now. I don't have any questions, but if I'm thinking about having sex, I promise to talk to you first."

"Good," Dean watched her hesitantly glance around the room. "Alright, what else is going on?" he asked. "I know that look."

"Well, it's just, I was thinking about it," she said. "That's why I asked Jody about going on the pill."

"Who were you thinking of doing it with?" Dean sighed. "No, wait, that's not necessary. Why did you change your mind, I'm guessing you changed your mind?"

"I did, and it was because we got in this fight and broke up," she said. "But, all I can think about is what if we did it and then broke up, how would I feel?"

"Probably not very good," Dean said. "I'm not going to tell you not to do, I'm sure as hell not going to tell you to do it, but I won't tell you not to. I will say that only you will know when you're ready, and you have good judgment, so trust your gut."

Maggie smiled.

"That was good, wasn't it?" He asked with a grin.

"Yeah, it was. This was a lot different than I thought this conversation was going to go," she said. "Thanks for talking to me Dad."

"No problem," he nodded as he rose from the bed. "I was going to get some target practice in, you want to come?"

"Really?" she asked as she jumped up from the bed. "You're finally going to teach me to shoot?"

"Yeah, come on," he nodded toward the door and they headed down the hall and out to the living room where Sam and Jody were talking. "Were going to the shooting range, either of you two want to join?"

"Nah, I'm good," Jody said.

"Did you finish your English paper?" Sam asked Maggie.

"Uhm, almost," she said as she glanced at Dean.

"Almost isn't finished, is it?" Sam said. "You lost a few days when you came to the bunker. You have to make them up. It's almost the end of the year."

"Yeah, but I'm never late and I still have a few days," she said.

"School first, Maggie, you know the rule," Sam shrugged.

"Daddy," she whined as she turned to Dean for help. "I can take an hour break, right?"

"No, and don't do that," Dean frowned and put his hands on his hips. "Sam has as much as a right to parent you as I do. You know that. You know to respect him and to listen to him. And, you sure as hell know not to pit us against one another."

"I know," she said quietly as she turned to Sam. "Sorry, Uncle Sam."

Sam nodded and gestured toward the dining room table. "I'll read it when you're finished." He said. "Let me know if you need any help."

Maggie headed to her room to get her stuff and Dean looked to Jody who was watching him. "You know she just wanted to spend time with you, right?" she said. "She wasn't trying to go against Sam."

"Maybe not," Dean said. "But, I said I was going to be more involved and that's what I'm doing."

"Then, why does he know she has a paper due, but you don't?" Jody said. "Hey, being involved means being involved in all aspects of their lives, not just the problem areas or the highlights."

"Sam handles homework, that's how we've always done things," Dean said, but he knew she was right. "I'll pick up Luke from soccer practise. I'm going out to find Ben."

"Alright," Sam said and watched Dean leave the house before turning to Jody.

"Did I touch a nerve?" she asked.

"Little bit," he nodded. "Dean's got two kids a little too much like him and he's just trying to do better by them than what we grew up with."

"I didn't tell Dean this yet, but Maggie is starting to push some boundaries," she said.

Sam frowned. "In what way?"

"Well, the last parent teacher interview I went to for her, they called her a classic perfectionist with an overachiever mentality that they often see with adopted kids," she said. "It's like these kids overcompensate to obtain approval from their adopted parents, or to impress their birth parents if they ever come around."

"Kind of like a 'look how good I am – don't you wish you kept me' sort of thing," Sam nodded.

"Exactly, now she's not adopted, but Dean was missing from her life for a while and he's in and out now," she said. "She's always used her grades and her achievements to gain praise from him, but now that Ben is acting out, Dean's time is tied up with Ben and that leaves Maggie wide open."

"So, you think she's trying to get his attention," he said.

"Yeah and I think it's going to keep escalating," she said. "Look, I'm glad Maggie came to be about the birth control, but she didn't need me to go get it. Alex got it on her own, Maggie could have too, or she could have asked Claire or Alex about it, but I think she asked me because she knew I would tell him."

"Interesting," Sam said. "She's smart enough to play that game too."

"She's also latched onto Claire and I think those two are getting a little two focused on hunting," Jody said. "Now it could all be a coincidence, but Maggie was like Alex when it came to hunting up until a few months ago."

Sam nodded slowly. "She's been slacking on her homework too," he said as he rose from the couch. "I'm going to have a talk with her."

Sam headed down the hall toward the girl's room. He was a little worried about his niece now. He didn't want her hunting, and he sure as hell didn't want her hunting if she was only doing it to catch Dean's attention. He wanted them all to live normal lives, but he knew that probably wasn't a reality. He'd settle for a successful, dysfunctional family as long as they were all happy. Maggie didn't seem too happy lately and now he had an idea why.

He knocked once and called her name briefly before opening her door. She had her leather jacket on and a burgundy zip up with the hood pulled up, and a back pack slung over her shoulder. She was halfway out her bedroom window when he walked into the room. She froze in the window frame, one leg and arm already on the other side and she was mere seconds away from ducking her head out.

"Hey, oh no, get back in here," Sam said, but Maggie hesitated, almost like she was thinking it over. Sam narrowed his eyes. "Maggie, if I have to chase you I will put you over my knee wherever I catch you. And, I will catch you."

"Ugh, Uncle Sam," she sighed, but climbed back into her room and dropped her bag on the ground. "I just need a break from this house for an hour."

"Come here," he pointed to the floor in front of him.

She slowly walked over to him and crossed her arms. He raised a brow at her, it was a little too much attitude for his liking and she broke eye contact in response. He reached out and pulled her hood down and he uncrossed her arms before he slipped a few fingers under her chin and turned her head back toward him.

"Look at me," he said firmly. "You want to explain to me what's going on with you lately?" 

She shrugged. "You want us to be normal," she said. "This is normal teenage behavior."

"Come on, now," he said. "Slacking off in school, sneaking out of the house, hunting without permission, hunting at all, this isn't you."

"Maybe it is," she said. "It's not like you're around enough to know everything about me."

"It's been a long time since I've had to discipline you, but let me assure you I still can, and I will if you keep asking for it," he said. "Talk to me while you still have the chance."

"Why should I? You never talked to me about the plan," she said.

She looked less defiant now and more sad. She pulled out of his grasp and turned away from him, but she wasn't fast enough. He saw the tears she was trying to hide and he didn't have to see her face to know she was hurting.

"That's what this is about?" he asked. "The world was going to end."

"And if he went through with it, my world would have still ended because he would have been gone," she whirled around and yelled at him. "Why should I have to listen to someone tell me how to live my life who was going to end theirs?"

"Maggie, listen to me," Sam stepped forward and put his hands on her arms.

"No, leave me alone," she yelled and pulled out of his grasp again. "You can't stand there and preach about being a family and living a normal life without hunting when you are so deep in it that you became the only hope for saving the world. Do you know what losing him would have meant? It would have ended any future we had outside of hunting. Him dying would have pushed Ben and me right into the middle of it."

"Yeah, probably," he nodded. "But, if he didn't do it, none of us would be here."

"So, what's the point of trying to keep us normal if you're never going to walk away?" she asked. "There's always going to be things that need to be hunted, people who need to be saved, there's always going to be some end of the world situation, and you're always going to be right there in the middle of it. One of these days you won't walk out of the fire and who do you think is going to have to clean up that mess?"

"It doesn't have to be you," he said. "There are other hunters."

"Then why can't they do the job instead of you?" she said through the tears. There was less fight in her voice now, she wasn't yelling anymore, she was breaking down.

"C'mere sweetheart," he said softly as he pulled her into his embrace. "Listen, Dean and I, we didn't have a choice growing up. Hunting was our life, nothing else mattered, we don't want it to be like that for you guys. But, you have to understand this is the life we chose to live."

"It's going to get you killed," she whispered into his chest. "Just like it got my Mom killed."


	5. Chapter 5

Dean drove to the shooting range by himself to blow off some steam and calm down. It probably wasn't a good sign that shooting made him feel at ease, but it was his therapy and it worked for him. He knew Jody was right, he needed to be more involved, and not just the bad cop parent. He wanted his kids to know he cared about them more than he cared about hunting, it was something he never got with his Father.

Sam was better at parenting, he knew that. Dean was a better protector, he spent his whole life protecting Sam, so no one doubted his ability to protect those his loved. He was also a damn good hunter, and if he was being honest he liked being the best, it was something he did right. But, Sam was better at talking about his feelings and getting the kids to talk. They went to Dean when they were scared, but they talked to Sam when they had a problem. It wasn't bad, but Dean wanted to be better.

Even now, he was going to track Ben down and be the hard ass parent. He had taken on that role easily because it was the only parenting technique he learned from John; be a parent, not a friend. He was good at that, but Sam was good at walking that line between friend and parent.

He tracked Ben's cell phone to a bungalow near the school. It was a non-negotiable rule. If they had a cell phone, they had to leave the GPS on so they could be found if needed. Dean wasn't sure what he was going to find as he walked up to the front door and knocked. A woman answered, she was blonde and petite, with blue eyes and a bright smile.

"Hello," she said and he returned her smile.

"Hi," he returned her smile. "My name is Dean Noon, I'm Ben's Dad."

"Oh, you're Ben's Dad!" she exclaimed. "I'm Karen, Joe's Mom, come inside."

Dean shook her outreached hand and realized he didn't know any of Ben's friends. The house was nice, clean and well organized, like everything had a place. It wasn't what he expected with the "crowd" he had been hanging out with lately, but things weren't always as they seemed.

"Ben has told us so much about you," she smiled. "He said you travel a lot with your work. Are you really FBI?"

"Yes, I worked the case at the school a few months ago," he said.

"Oh that was just terrible," she shook her head. "And, Ben's Mother passed?"

Dean nodded. "A few years ago, car accident."

"So, you knew the Sheriff from work?" she asked.

"We crossed paths a few times years back, we kept in touch and become good friends." He said. "I don't have much family, she became family."

"Jody is great, isn't she?" she said. "And, Ben is a great kid. Honestly, you'd never know what he's been through."

She didn't know the half of it, he thought. He wasn't sure if this woman was nosy, or curious, or if she was trying to figure out if Ben had been lying about his life. He wasn't all that comfortable being asked so many personal questions, but he figured maybe he could use it to his advantage.

"Actually, I've been having a few behavioral problems with Ben," he said. "Have you noticed anything different with your son, or with Ben?"

"A few things, but I think it's mostly normal teenage behavior. Joe has two older brothers and we went through the same thing with them.," she said. "Ben is always pleasant when he's here, but Joe has been getting into some trouble lately. The school is saying it's the age and the crowd."

"I got the same conversation," he said.

"There are some new kids in his group of friends lately, some come from divorced or single parent homes where there isn't a lot of supervision," she said. "I try to encourage Joe to have his friends here so I can watch them. I have no problems with Ben at all, I think he's a good friend to Joe, so I keep an eye on him too when I can."

"Can't pick their friends, I guess." He said. "I appreciate you looking out for Ben."

"Oh, it's no bother," she said. "I'll get Ben for you."

A few minutes later Ben came up the stairs looking a little nervous as he approached Dean. He knew he should have told someone where he was going, but he was at that age where they think they run the show. Dean knew how to address that and he laid a heavy hand on Ben's shoulder as he thanked Karen and said goodbye. They left the house and Dean waited until they were in the car until he started talking.

"What's the rule, Ben?"

"I forgot you were here," he said.

"No, you didn't, because if you did, you would have at least let Jody know where you were," he eyed his son. "I want the truth, Ben."

"I don't get why I have to report where I am every second when you track my phone," he said.

"It's called trust. I shouldn't have to track you down. You're supposed to ask permission."

"Fine, sorry." He sighed.

"You seem to be apologizing a lot lately, Ben." He said. "Breaking rules is not the way to get my attention, bud."

"That's not what I'm doing," he mumbled.

"Then, what are you doing?" he said. "Because all I keep hearing from Jody and the school is that you're acting out. Stop asking for forgiveness and start asking for permission, things will get a lot easier."

"Okay," he snapped and drew the word out. "Can we just go home now? I get it. I cause so much trouble for everyone, so let's just go get the punishment over with."

Dean frowned and slung his arm across the impala seat and turned toward Ben, leaning in slightly. "I'm trying to give you a chance to talk to me, son."

Ben looked at Dean for a moment before he looked away. "I don't know what you want me to say."

"You wanted me here, I'm here. I'm right here, Ben." Dean said. "I get it, it's hard growing up without your Mom, and me being gone so much doesn't help. I cut you a lot of slack because of that, but I'm here now and your behavior hasn't changed. So, start talking."

"I'm mad, alright?" he said. "I'm mad they killed Mom, I'm mad you went back to hunting, I'm mad you almost left us for good-"

His voice broke on the last part and Dean ran a comforting hand down the back of his head. "What else?"

"Why can't we be normal?" he looked to Dean. "Haven't we lost enough people, sacrificed enough, given up enough? How much more are you going to let hunting take from us?"

"Ben, you got to understand it's my job and I think Sam and I make the world a better place."

"You were out, with me and Mom, you got out. And, Maggie came into the picture," he shook his head. "Why weren't we enough for you?"

"You never get out of this life, it haunts you, literally. It's why I don't want you and Maggie in it, because it will consume you. It's too late for Sam and I, this is what we chose, and I know it's not fair and I know you don't understand, but I don't want you to understand it, Ben. I want you to take a different path, go to college, get married, settle down. I don't want hunting to ever be a part of your life."

"But that means you won't be a part of my life." He said. "Don't you get it? You can't separate them. You can't live both lives."

"No, I can't. But I can live this life, and you can live the life I wish I could." He said. "And, we're just going to have to meet in the middle, alright?"

Ben nodded and leaned into Dean's shoulder. "Alright," he mumbled. "Am I in trouble for this?"

Dean sighed audibly. "Consider this your very last warning."

Dean knew the conversation wasn't over, and he was going to have to be more involved to prove to Ben that he was going to be there like he promised. He hoped things were moving in the right direction, but he knew he was still going to have to watch Ben like a hawk, especially since he just let him off the hook.

They picked up Luke at the school. He had just finished soccer practice and Dean couldn't help but notice the clear difference between the two boys. Ben acted out when he was upset, or feeling ignored, while Luke was upfront about what was bothering him. He was younger, and he was starting to realize the full realm of what they did for a living, but he was still in the stage where he wasn't questioning the adults in his life or their parenting skills yet.

"How was soccer?" Dean asked as Luke climbed into the backseat of the car.

"We're undefeated, but our coach acts like we haven't won a game all season," he said. "He made us do suicides. I thought I was going to puke."

Dean smirked. "Some coaches want the titles more than the players." He said. "You still like it though, right?"

Luke shrugged. "Yeah, I guess," he said. "All my friends play and it's something active to do."

"Uncle Sam doesn't like when we play video games all day," Ben smirked at his Dad.

"I don't like that either," he said. "I never had video games growing up."

"Dad, you didn't even have your own bedroom growing up." Ben said.

"Exactly, consider yourself lucky." Dean said.

"I don't have my own room, I share with him." Ben said. "I have my own room at the bunker."

"Sharing a room builds character, ensures you don't feel entitled to privileges." Dean glanced at Ben. "Which is why we want you all to play at least one sport. Teaches you team work, cooperation, you learn to take direction and how to fail. Plus, it gets you out of the house."

"Maggie doesn't play a sport," Luke said. "Is she exempt because she's a girl?"

"No," Dean said quickly. "Absolutely not. She's in clubs, that counts."

"It's because she's a witch, isn't it?" Ben said. "You didn't know what would happen if she got angry or hurt."

"See?" Dean raised his eyebrows at Ben as they pulled into the driveway. "You are smarter than you realize. You just need to apply yourself. So, go apply yourself to your homework, both of you."

They tore out of the car and Dean watched them playfully shove each other as they raced to the house. He smiled as he followed behind them, it reminded him of him and Sam growing up. Sam came out the front door as they were approaching the front porch, he briefly caught up with Luke before he shut the door behind the boys and turned to Dean.

"Oh no, I know that look," Dean shook his head. "What happened?"

"Maggie had a mini breakdown when you left," he said.

"Is she ok?" Dean asked, immediately concerned.

"I caught her trying to sneak out her window," he said. "I had to threaten to discipline her to get her to climb back in. She was ready to run from me, I could see her debating it, and then she had a lot of attitude."

"Are you kidding me?" he asked. "I can't win with these two, Sam. Every time I turn around, one of them is acting out. I can't keep up."

"She's holding onto a lot of anger and fear about what you almost did," he said. "She's not dealing with it, and Jody thinks because Ben started taking up so much of your time it left Maggie wanting your attention."

"Why do they always think bad behavior is the key to getting my attention?" he asked. "It's not the kind of attention they want."

"I think they just want you to focus on them, even if it's a lecture," he said. "Look, she started talking about what happened with her Mom."

"Damn it," he ran a hand over his face. "Ben and Luke they need us as those male authority figures in their life, but Maggie needs her Mother and I can't be that for her."

"We had Dad, we had that male authority, and we still needed our Mom," Sam said. "It's not fair, but we are all they have. We have got to figure it out, because their Moms aren't coming back."

Dean shook his head. "How did our kids end up in the same position as we were? We're supposed to do better by them. That's the golden rule."

"I think we are," Sam said. "You're not him, Dean. As much as you compare, you're a better Father than he was and deep down you know it."

"We'll see," he said. "I'm going to talk to my kid."

Dean headed down the hall and knocked once before walking into Maggie's room. He opened the door when he didn't hear a response and a combination of annoyance and worry washed over him when he realized she wasn't there. He swept the room quickly, he checked the closet and the bathroom, before he concluded that she fooled Sam into giving her space so she could take off.

He left her room and checked the other bedrooms before heading back down the hall. The boys and Alex were doing homework at the dining room table, Claire was out on a hunt, and Jody and Mary were in the kitchen. Dean headed down the stairs, hoping he was wrong, but when Maggie wasn't done there either, he knew he was right.

He headed back up the stairs and signalled for Sam, who was now at the dining room table hovering over the kids as they did their homework like a substitute teacher monitoring detention. Sam frowned but followed him out to the front porch without questioning it. He closed the door and turned to his brother, who was clearly upset.

"What's going on?" he asked.

"Maggie went AWOL," he shook his head. "What did she say to you?"

"She was upset, I comforted her, and then," he sighed. "She asked to be alone. Dean, I'm sorry, I thought she was alright."

"It's not your fault," Dean said as he tracked her phone with his. "These kids are really testing my patience, Sam."

"You know, I think Jody is right. They step out of line and we show up, without fail. They picked up on it, first Ben and now Maggie," Sam shrugged. "It's a cry for help, they're trying to keep us around."

Dean frowned. "No, they're trying to get us to move them to the bunker." He said as it dawned on him. "They're making waves so that we decide they need to live with us because they're too much for Jody to handle."

"They think we're going to decide they're better off in the normal life," Sam nodded. "They're good."

"Too good," Dean said.

"What are you going to do?" he asked.

"I'm not going to play this game," Dean said. "She'll come home, and we'll talk, and then we'll all talk."

OOOOO

Dean and Sam were sitting in the living room having a beer when they saw a car pull into the driveway and Maggie get out. Sam left the room, they decided it was better Dean talked to her alone at first. It was late, really late and Maggie had pushed her luck to a point where Dean really was upset by the time she got home.

She was suddenly nervous when she walked through the door and saw him sitting on the couch. He had been waiting for her, she knew that, and any nerve she had left to carry through this plan was quickly disappearing. He closed the door and leaned against it, not sure what to do, and for a moment they just stared at each other.

He held up a hand when she was about to start talking. His frown turned into a raised brow of annoyance now that he knew she was safe. "I'm going to talk. All I want to hear out of you is yes sir, no sir, and I'm sorry Dad. Got it?"

"Yes, sir." she mumbled.

"Good, so you can follow orders," he nodded. "Are you okay?"

She nodded.

"Did you do anything illegal?" he asked. "Verbal response, kid."

"No, sir." she said.

"Did you do anything dangerous, anything witch specific?"

"No sir," she said.

"Was I clear when I told you to stay here and finish your paper?" she nodded. "So, you disobeyed an order."

"Yes, sir."

"Okay, sit," he pointed to the dining room table and he waited until she began to walk toward the table before he stood and joined her. "You want to explain to me what's going on?"

"What did Sam tell you?" she asked as they sat down.

"Cliff notes," Dean said. "Doesn't matter, I want to hear it from you."

"I had a moment," she brushed him off. "It's nothing."

"Let me hear it," he said, but he was met with silence. "Baby, I'm not going to walk out that door if I don't like what you say."

"You already did," she said. "You left today."

"I did, and I shouldn't have. But, I came back and you knew I would." He said. "You disappeared, see the difference?"

She shrugged and shook her head.

"No, not good enough." He said. "You want my attention, you've got it. Start talking."

"Or what?" she snapped.

"Excuse me?" he frowned. "You know, Sam reminded me it's been a while since you've been over my knee and maybe I've made a mistake about that. Maybe that's exactly what you need."

"I don't want to talk about this right now," she said, quickly backing down. "Can I just go to my room?"

"Oh, I'm not even near finished," he said. "Come on, talk to me."

"You don't listen. You just do whatever you want," she said as she stood up and her voice broke and tears appeared in her eyes. "You were going to leave us, forever, and you didn't even call. You chose your job over us every time, and you always will. She did it too, and now I don't have a Mom because she was selfish. So, why should I play family in this house?"

Dean remained seated and put his hands on her arms and pulled her closer to him. He was calm and his voice was smooth and reassuring. "This isn't an act, it's not a game, and we aren't playing," he said. "We are a family and you, Ben, and Luke always come first. All my life I've protected my own and that's what I was doing, I was protecting you all, and you can be upset, you can be angry, but you can't shut me out. You can't take off, because my job is dangerous and I need to know you're safe. I know it's coming up on the anniversary of her death, and I know you miss your Mom, and I know you need her. I'm doing my best here, and I need you to meet me half way."

She nodded and he wiped away the falling tears before he stood and wrapped her in a hug. "I don't want to lose you too," she mumbled into his chest.

Dean closed his eyes for a moment and tried to compose himself. He wanted her to hear his voice as strong and steady. "I'm not going anywhere, baby." He said. "I promise."

"Everything alright?" Sam asked as he came upstairs from the basement.

"Yeah, but we need to talk," Dean kept an arm around Maggie as they separated. He looked down at her. "I think you owe Sam an explanation."

"I was worried about you," Sam said as he towered over her. "You can't just take off like that, Mags."

"I know, I'm sorry," she said.

"You ran out on Sam's watch," Dean reminded her. "And, you did it after he warned you when he caught you trying to leave."

Maggie bit her lip and looked to Sam. "Any chance that was an empty threat?" she asked.

"It depends on how this conversation goes." He said as he gestured for her to sit back down at the table with them.

She sighed when she realized they were waiting for her to talk. "I just needed some time out of this house."

"I think you need to ask yourself if that's really why you left, or if it was because you wanted your Dad to come find you?" Sam asked her.

"Maybe," she shrugged. "Okay, yeah, I wanted you to come find me. I wasn't planning on leaving after we talked Uncle Sam, but Ben had already taken off and you'd be busy dealing with him when you got home and I'd get pushed aside when I needed to talk to you."

Dean ran a hand down the back of her head. "I think because you're so helpful with the boys, and you're pretty easy to parent, sometimes Sam and I forget that you still need us," he said. "I've been pretty focused on Ben lately, and you shouldn't have to make waves to get my attention."

"You've got to talk to us when stuff is bothering you," Sam added. "You're the easy one, but we shouldn't have taken a step back and you should have come to us."

"I never thought about it like that," she said. "I guess I left because I was hurt that you left. I just wanted to hang out with my Dad."

Dean smiled and kissed her head. "You're right, I shouldn't have left. I'm sorry if I hurt you, baby. I love you."

Maggie smiled and leaned into Dean's shoulder as he put his arm around her. "I love you too," she said before she looked at Sam. "And, I love you, Uncle Sam."

Sam sighed. "Fine, you escaped punishment this time," he said as he winked at her. "I love you too, sweetheart."

The cute family moment was cut short when they heard a terrifying scream come from down the hall. It was a blood curdling scream, a scream that make your heart skip and the hair stand up on the back of your neck. It wasn't a good sound, and Sam and Dean were immediately on high alert and on their feet heading for their guns. They were always in protective mode, especially when it came to their family, and their minds went right to the worst case scenario and to supernatural causes.

"No, no," Maggie said when they picked up their guns. "It's Luke, he's having a nightmare. This has been happening since you were kidnapped."

Sam took off down the hall to check on his son. Jody told him this was happening, but to hear such a startling sound coming from his child, to know he was scared and to see the effects of it, knowing that he was the cause of it, it truly frightened Sam himself. Luke was still yelling, half asleep and calling out for Sam when he entered the room.

Ben was trying to wake him up, like he had been doing for the past month. He'd turn the on the lamp on the table between their beds and shake his cousin until he woke up. Then, he'd talk to him, sometimes they'd leave the light on, sometimes Ben would have to sleep next to him, sometimes they'd sneak out into the living room and play video games.

But, now Sam was there and that's who Luke really wanted and all the things Ben did were only temporary because the true solution was Sam. He shook his son awake before he climbed into the bed with him to hold him until he calmed down. It was upsetting and Sam could feel Luke shaking in his arms as he turned a worried frown on Dean.

Dean was standing in the doorway with one arm around Maggie and another around Ben. It was a silent conversation between brothers that ended in a nod. They knew they had to move them back to the bunker now.


	6. Chapter 6

A few weeks later they were sitting around the table near the front stairs, going over some research into basic spells. They had made a deal, Maggie could learn defensive magic, but only in the presence of Dean or Sam. The boys were in the next room doing their homework and eavesdropping as much as they could on the conversation.

The door opened and they all glanced up to see Mary walk into the bunker. They were all still getting used to living together at the bunker, but she was the puzzle piece that hadn't quite fit in yet. Luke and Ben came into the room as she made her way down the stairs, but the pleasant reunion was short lived, very short lived as Mary began to explain where she had been lately.

"There's no easy way to say it, so I'm just going to say it. I've been working with the British Men of Letters," Mary said.

Maggie glanced from Mary to Dean and Sam, knowing this wasn't going to be well recieved. For brothers, she had never met two people who were so similar, yet projected their feelings so differently. Dean stood with his arms crossed, and a heavy frown pained on his face. He was automatically defensive and judgemental. Sam stayed seated, a concerned look but willing to hear her out.

"You, uh, what?" Sam stumbled.

Dean studied her before nodded. "Ah," he said as he looked at the kids and gave a simple nod toward the hall, silently telling them to leave the room. He didn't have to say anything, the boys knew to leave, but Maggie stayed and Dean didn't fight with her about it. She had a little more leeway in the family dynamic than Ben or Luke.

"Mom, we have a history with them." Sam said once the boys were gone.

"I know, Sam," she said. "It was a hard decision, but they are doing good work and I have helped them save people, a lot of people. We can learn from them."

"We have our own tool kit, and for obvious reasons we don't trust the Brits." Sam said.

"So, where does that leave us?" Dean asked.

"Same as always, family," she said. "Just hear me out, please."

"Wow, just wow," Dean said as he took a few steps away from the table.

"Dean, it's a better way," she said. "Look, I'm not blind to who they are or what they've done but,"

"When?" Sam raised his eyebrows. "When did you start working with them?"

"Since before the lake house," she admitted. "It wasn't Wally, they brought me that case."

"You were running an errand for the Brits and you kept it from us?" Dean said. "Cas almost died."

"A hunter got killed," Sam added.

"You think I don't know that?" she said. "I'm the one burned his body and told his wife. I watch him die every night."

"Good," Dean said angrily.

"I'm doing this for you," Mary argued. "I'm playing three decades of catch up."

"And were not?" Dean growled. "How do you think this has been for us? We're your sons and you've been gone. Our whole lives you've been gone. You said that you needed time, no you said you needed space, so we gave you your space. But, you didn't need just space, you needed space from us."

"That's not true," she said. "Dean, I'm trying."

"How about for once you just try being Mom?" he yelled.

"I am your Mother, but I am not just a mom," she said. "And you are not a child."

"I never was," he said sadly. And, in that moment Maggie understood why Dean did what he did, why he and Sam both kept their kids out of this life as long as they could. "So, between us and them-"

"It's not like that," she said.

"Yeah, Mary, it is," he nodded, and Maggie noticed the pain in her eyes at him calling her by her name instead of Mom. It made Maggie feel guilty that she had done the same to him over the years, mostly when he spent too long on the road and she lashed out because she missed him.

"And, you made your choice, so there's the door." He pointed toward the stairs before he angrily walked out of the room leaving Sam to finish on his own.

Maggie had silently listened to the conversation and his anger and pain with his Mother echoed hers with Dean in the first months of their relationship. She learned a lot about her Dad during that conversation and she glanced at Sam as Dean left the room. He nodded as he rose from the table to say goodbye to his Mom and Maggie followed Dean out of the room.

Dean headed down the hall toward his room and Maggie ran to catch up to him. "Wait," she called. "Daddy, wait."

He stopped when he heard her. He turned as she collided with him. He needed that hug just as much as she did. "It's alright," he said. "I'm alright."

"I get it," she mumbled. "And, I'm sorry."

"Sorry for what?" He frowned as he put her down. "You've done nothing wrong."

"I was pretty angry with you in the beginning," she admitted. "You never came for me, not once in twelve years. And, when Mom died it was like you didn't want me and you couldn't wait to get rid of me. You dumped us at Jody's and it was like you left me twice."

"No, baby, I didn't," he said. "I wanted you with me, I did, but this wasn't what was best for you. I'm still not sure if this move is right because I don't want this being your story. I don't want your life to be hunting and your job to be looking out for Ben and Luke like a parent."

"I know," she said. "You didn't get to be a kid, but I did. Until Mom died, I had a pretty normal life, minus the witch thing, so I finally get it. You didn't want me to go through what you went through. I guess I just never thought that you being gone was best, or that it was hard for you."

"It was the hardest thing, and I still don't want this to be your life," he said as he put his hands on her upper arms. "I know you want to help, but I can't do my job if I'm worried about you. If you're out there with me working a case, I'll be distracted thinking about what you're doing and being distracted gets people killed."

"I know, but this was important to Mom," she said. "She helped hunters."

"And it got her killed," he said softly. "Family is a hunter's weakness. I will do anything for you, and Sam, and the boys, and they know it."

"If can protect this family, I want to."

Dean smirked and kissed her head. "You really are my daughter," he said before he turned serious again and shook his head. "But no, you're not hunting and you're not raising the boys like I had to raise Sam."

OOOOO

Maggie was in the kitchen making dinner when she heard the bunker's door open and footsteps on the stairs. She ran out excitedly knowing that Dean was back and he wasn't alone. With the events of the other night, Mary had taken off and Dean wanted to keep his word and make sure Maggie wasn't left watching Ben and Luke like a parent when he and Sam had a case.

It was all supposed to be a surprise, but Sam spilled the beans when she figured out something was going on. He had to leave last minute to pick up the boys and he didn't want Maggie taking off and missing out on the surprise. He tried to simply tell her she couldn't leave the bunker until Dean got back, but she was too smart for that and she saw right through him. She could tell he was hiding something, although she thought it was something bad, and she easily wore him down.

"Uncle Adam!" she shrieked with excitement as she jumped into his awaiting arms.

"Hey Mags," he smiled. He put her down and looked her over as he shook his head. "Now I see why your Dad locked you up in an underground bunker."

"Hey, she wanted to come live here," Dean grinned. He was keenly aware how beautiful his daughter was. "But, now that you mention it, that's not a bad idea."

"Daddy," Maggie said as she leaned into Adam and he looped his arm around her. They were close, and she had missed him.

"He's just being protective," Adam leaned down and pretended to whisper. "It's what happens when you get old and boring."

"Old and boring?" Dean raised a brow with a smirk.

"I'm just saying, sometimes you're a cool parent and sometimes you're not," he shrugged.

"Let me guess, you'd be a cool parent?" Dean said and Adam nodded with amusement. "Alright hot shot, let's see how you do watching these three for the weekend."

"Piece of cake," he scoffed.

"Maggie is dating now, on birth control and everything."

"What?" Adam frowned as he looked at her with shock.

"Dad!" Maggie shrieked with embarrassment.

"She wants to go on a date this weekend and Ben wants to go to a party. It's your watch, so up to you if they go," Dean said. "And remember, she's the easy one."

"Uh-what?" Adam frowned as he looked down at Maggie. "Really?"

She nodded. "He's trying to psych you out." She whispered.

"It's working," he whispered back. "So, where are the boys? And, Sam?"

"Luke was meeting with the soccer coach for a competitive team and Ben wanted to hang out with some new guys he met," she said. "Sam went to pick them up."

As if on cue the door opened and the boys funneled into the bunker with Sam right behind them. The second they spotted Adam they went flying down the stairs and into him at top speed. It was evident that Sam didn't tell them he was going to be there, mostly because Adam liked surprising them. He occasionally surprised his brothers too, but it was harder to do that, and a little more dangerous.

"How long are you staying?" Ben asked as he separated from Adam.

"Probably about a week," Adam said as he eyed his brothers.

"You're leaving." Luke said as he watched the exchange. He was observant and he knew if Adam was staying with them it was because they were going on a hunt and they didn't know how long it would take them.

"Just for a few days," Sam reassured his son. "We'll be back as soon as we can."

"And, we'll find some fun things to do while they're gone," Adam winked at his youngest nephew.

He had a close bond with all three of them, but each relationship was very different. Adam walked the line between parent and friend and most of the time he got away with being the fun uncle who was almost like an older brother. He was a lot like Dean, despite not knowing his brothers until he was twelve it was almost uncanny how similar they reacted, so the kids knew not to push fun Uncle Adam too far.

They had planned to leave shortly after Adam got there, it was better that way for all of them. If they waited too long, they asked too many questions and before they knew it, Maggie and Ben wanted to tag along and Luke was trying to find ways to keep them from leaving. They already had their bags packed so it was just a matter of saying goodbye, and throwing in a few parental warnings here and there.

"Adam, real meals please, and homework every night," Sam said.

"Got it," he nodded. He actually did know how to cook and he was good at it, and he graduated with honors and was pre-med once upon a time so he knew a thing or two about homework.

"Curfew on school nights is ten for Ben and Maggie, midnight on weekends." Dean said as he looked at his brother. "We'll check in when we can, call us if something jumps off."

"Not my first time guys," Adam said, trying to lighten the mood. "I got it, they'll be fine."

Dean nodded and lopped an arm around Ben as he dropped a kiss to Maggie's head. "Adam's watch," he said as a final warning to them.

Sam had a similar exchange with Luke before they both headed up the stairs and out of the bunker. Adam watched each of them carefully as his brothers were leaving. He already knew what to look out for. Luke would be upset, Ben would be ready to push some limits to see what he could get away with while his Dad was gone, and Maggie was a wild card, but Adam could handle all of it.

"Alright, boys homework," he said. "Maggie, come help me with dinner."

"Why?" she frowned. "Because I'm a girl?"

"Don't play that girl card with me, you goof," Adam shook his head and she cracked a grin as she followed him to the kitchen. "Sam already told me you finished your homework and had started dinner, since it's your night to cook."

"I was making fajitas," she said. "You know, your favorite."

"And yours," he smiled. "Come on, you can tell me about this date while we finish cooking."

"Does that mean you're saying yes?" she asked.

"No, it means I want more information so I can consider it," he said.

She sighed. "Typical parental response."

OOOOO

Maggie woke up abruptly later that night. She had a nightmare. She was breathing heavily and shaking slightly as she waited to calm down. Sometimes it was hard for her to figure out if she was having a dream or if she was seeing something that was going on. She had heard some witches could foresee certain events, or see or sense a scene that was going on with someone close to them. She wasn't sure this time, so she headed down the hall to talk it out.

Adam wasn't sleeping, so he heard someone in the hall outside his door before the knock came. He was reading in bed and frowned slightly as the door opened and Maggie poked her head into the room. She had hesitated because she didn't want to wake him, but the closer she got to the door she saw the light from the room flooding out from underneath the door and she knew then that he was awake.

"What's up, Mags?" he asked concerned.

"I-I don't know," she mumbled.

His frown deepened as he put his book down on the nightstand and swung his legs over the bed, waving her over. "C'mere," he said. He waited for her to sit beside him and that's when he noticed how upset she was. He nudged her gently. "What's wrong?"

"I had this dream, but I don't know if it was a dream," she mumbled. "I'm afraid to call Dad to check in."

"You want to tell me what the dream was about?" he asked, but she shook her head. He reached for his phone instead, knowing that she wasn't going to calm down until she knew they were okay. "Alright, let's check in."

"Yeah," Dean answered the phone gruffly.

Adam smirked, knowing he had woken his brother up. "Dean," he said.

"Adam?" Dean was more alert now. "What's wrong?"

"Nothing, everyone is good," he quickly said. "Just wanted to check in with you and Sam."

"In the middle of the night?" Dean questioned and Adam could hear Sam in the background asking what was going on. "It's Adam, checking in. Kids are fine. Adam, we're good, what's this really about?"

Adam raised a brow at Maggie. She had her arms wrapped around one of his arms and her head leaned against his shoulder. She was staring at the floor, but he knew she could hear everything. "Just wanted to make sure everything went ok," Adam said. "Hadn't heard from you and the kids will be asking questions tomorrow morning."

Dean sighed, he wasn't buying it. "Adam," he said simply.

"Maggie had a dream," his response was almost a reflex. "She's a little uneasy."

"Let me talk to her," he said and Adam handed Maggie the phone.

She barely moved, she was still clinging to Adam. "Hi, Daddy."

"Hey baby," he soothed. "We're both good, nothing went wrong."

"Not yet," she mumbled.

"Maggie," Dean said a little firmly. "If something's wrong you've got to tell me."

"What if I'm not having dreams, but it's something else I'm seeing?"

"Fortunately kiddo, this isn't a witch thing," he assured. "This kind of thing happens to most kids when they get worried and their minds cook up all kinds of stuff."

"How do you know?" she said.

"Because it happened to me, and Sam and Adam growing up when our Dad was gone on hunts," he said. "It happens with Luke and Ben, you've been there for that, and it's happened with you before. When you care about someone, when you love them that much, losing them is your greatest fear and sometimes our minds like to feed on that. It normal, baby."

"Are you sure you're okay?" she asked.

Dean smiled. "I promise, sweetheart." He said. "I love you."

"Love you too," she said as she handed the phone back to Adam.

"I'll be right back," Adam said as he left the room, knowing Dean would want to talk to him out of ear shot of Maggie. "Hey, Dean."

"You out of the room?" he asked. "Is she alright?"

"Yeah, she's fine," he said. "It's a normal nightmare. I can handle it."

"I know you can," he sighed. "I just want to do the right thing."

Adam frowned. "What makes you think you're not?"

"You think I don't see the similarities here?" Dean said. "You met Dad when you were twelve, same age Maggie was when I met her. Dad kept you out of hunting, and that's what I've tried to do. Hunting got your Mom killed and it got hers killed too, and Ben's, and Luke's."

"And yours?" Adam said. "That's what this is about, isn't it? I know you got into it with her a few days ago."

"They don't usually come back," he said. "You, just like Sam, and just like me, this is our life now because it's never over, even if they come back, even if you get revenge, and I don't want that for them."

"It's not your choice," Adam said calmly. "I know you don't want to hear it, but that's a hard truth you're going to have to live with. No matter what you do, what you say, how much you warn them or tell them no, they might still say yes."

"You got the normal life, the happy childhood," Dean said. "I hated how jealous I was of that, but Dad made the right choice for you."

"And yet, here we are," Adam shook his head.

To be continued…


	7. Chapter 7

Adam woke up the next morning to find his room empty. After he got off the phone with Dean, he let Maggie stay in his room knowing she was still upset. He played a movie on his laptop, hoping it would cause enough of a distraction for her fears and allow her to sleep. He ended up falling asleep before she did and he wasn't sure if she got any sleep.

He checked on the boys, both of who were still sleeping, and checked her room to find it empty. He even thought to check Dean and Sam's rooms, just in case she went in there, but they were empty too. He found her in the kitchen, making breakfast as she drank coffee.

"Did you get any sleep?" he asked as he poured himself a cup of coffee.

She shrugged as she looked up at him and he saw the dark circles under her eyes and knew the answer was no. "A bit," she said.

He nodded and sat down at the table as she continued to cook. "Do you want to talk to me about what's going on now?"

"Not really," she sighed.

"Mags, come on," he pushed. "I'm here so you get to be a regular kid. You don't have to worry or act like a parent, that's my job. Your job is to talk to me."

"How can I be a regular kid when we don't have a regular life?" she asked. "They don't have regular jobs, we don't live in a regular house, we aren't even a regular family. Any time someone asks me about my family, I automatically have to lie and then there goes trying to be regular. I don't even get to tell people how my Mom actually died. I have to say it was a car accident."

"I know that losing your Mom the way you did was traumatic," he said. "I know something about how that feels, and so does everyone else in this family."

"Yeah, clearly the women in this family have horrible luck," she said. "If I ever have kids I'll probably die and leave them too."

Adam raised his head slightly at her words as he studied her for a moment. "Come here for a minute," he said.

"No," she sniffed. "I'm fine."

He rose from the table and crossed the room to pull the bowl of pancake batter from her hands. "Is that what this is about?" he asked gently.

"I just don't see a happy ending for us," she said. "It's only a matter of time before their job and this lifestyle takes every one of us."

Adam's frown deepened as he listened to her. He ran his thumb under her eye to wipe away a few tears before he cupped her chin. "Listen to me," he said softly. "Life can take anyone at any time in any way, no matter how sheltered or cautious you live it can still happen."

"But the chances are much higher with this life," she said as she pulled out of his grasp.

"So are the chances if you're a police officer, or a firefighter, or if you serve in the military," he said. "You can find fear in anything if you look hard enough and that's when you paralyze yourself. Sometimes you just have to let go of the fear and focus on the good instead."

"Like what?" she asked.

"Well, I think the fact that you know we save people should out weight the fact that you can't tell people what we really do. And, maybe you can't bring friends over to this house but at least you all live together now," he reminded. "And, this job may be dangerous and the world may be terrifying, but we have literal angels on our side looking out for us."

"And, you stay with us when they're on the road," she said with a small smile.

He grinned and wrapped an arm around her. "Exactly," he said. "The best part of this life is that it brings us closer together. We're a much tighter knit family than most and I think that's something really special."

Maggie smiled and leaned into Adam as he kissed her head. He hit the nail on the head and was always pretty good at knowing what to say. Sam was the best at talking things out with everyone in the family, but Adam was a close second. Maggie walked the line between being reserved and closed off like her Dad, but also being easily emotional when it came to family like her Mom.

"What's wrong?" Luke said from the doorway. "Are Dad and Uncle Dean okay?"

"Yeah, bud," Adam said as he walked toward his youngest nephew. "They're fine. I talked to them last night."

"Why are you crying?" Luke asked Maggie, not completely buying that everything was fine.

"I was just thinking about my Mom," she answered honestly to ease his anxiety. "I'm okay, now."

"Sometimes I think about my Mom too," Luke said as he sat down at the table. "I don't have any memories of her, so I always wonder what she'd be like, or how it would be different if she was around."

Adam ran a hand down the back of his head in a comforting act. Maggie frowned as she handed him a plate of food and sat down at the table with him. "I think about that too," she admitted.

"Maybe it's easier I don't remember her," he shrugged. "It's hard to miss something you never had."

"I think it's hard either way," Maggie said. "But, you had your Grandma, and we have Jody."

"And, you have each other," Adam reminded.

"Ugh, what's with you guys and the chick flick moments all the time?" Ben groaned as he stumbled into the kitchen half asleep.

"Morning to you too, sunshine," Adam said as Maggie and Luke grinned at the way Ben always seemed to lighten the mood.

"So, can I go to the party tonight?" Ben asked the second he sat down with a plate full of food.

"Rookie mistake, Ben," Maggie said. "Always let Uncle Adam finish his coffee before you ask for favors."

Adam smirked. "You can go, but you better be home on time and no drinking," he said. "Something jumps off you call me for help, got it?"

"Got it," Ben nodded with a grin. "Thanks."

"Yeah, yeah," he said as he turned to Maggie. "You can go on your date too, but I'm not letting you get in a car with some guy I've never met. I'll drop you off and pick you up."

Maggie shrugged. "I don't know if I'm going. I'll see how I feel later."

OOOOO

Adam left the bunker to take Luke out for dinner and to a movie. He wanted to spend some extra time with him one on one, because being the youngest he could be overlooked easily, and because he had a hard time with Sam being away. Maggie said she was tired and cancelled her date, she said she was heading to bed early when they left. He didn't give it a second thought given how little she slept the night before. But, she really just wanted a night out without guys in her family constantly hovering. Dating was hard enough, but she was also in a new school and the date was with the quarterback. Her social status depended on the date going well.

Maggie had a feeling this plan of hers wasn't the best idea, but she ignored her gut and now she wasn't sure what to do. The date started off good. He picked her up, she pretended she lived at a house a few blocks from the bunker and waited outside. He took her to a diner for dinner, but then he took her to a party and things quickly deteriorated. He drank too much and now he was being pushy and obnoxious. He kept trying to get her to drink and he was getting increasingly angry that she wouldn't. He kept grabbing her and hanging off her, and it didn't take long for Maggie to realize he wasn't going to be able to take her home.

"Hey," Ben answered his phone on the second ring. "Tell him I'm about to leave, I'll be home on time."

"Ben," Maggie interrupted.

"What's wrong?" he frowned.

"I need you to come pick me up. I went out with that guy, we're at this party and he's wasted." She said. "I want to leave and he can't drive me home."

"I thought Uncle Adam was driving you?" he asked.

"He doesn't know I went out," she said. "Look, I know you'll be late if you come get me, but Ben, please. I really don't want to be here."

"Yeah, I'm on my way." He said. "I'm leaving right now."

Maggie knew Ben was about fifteen minutes away from her right now, and she were about thirty minutes from the bunker, so she knew he was risking being almost an hour late to pick her up. She tried to keep her date at bay while she waited, but when she told him she was getting picked up he started to get really annoyed and she ended up leaving the house to wait outside.

"Why are you waiting out here alone?" Ben asked when she climbed in the car.

"Because, it's a frat party in there," she said.

"It's safer than standing on the road in the dark," he said.

"No, it really isn't." she said.

He frowned as he glanced at her as he drove. "Did he do something to you?"

"No, and I can take care of myself," she sighed. "Even without the witch side, Dad taught us how to fight and defend ourselves from things far worse than drunk football players."

"Maybe, but you're still my sister," he reminded. "It's my job to look out for you."

She glanced over at him briefly. He had a deep frown painted on his face as he glared at the road ahead of him and tightened his grip on the steering wheel. "Yeah, thanks for picking me up." She said. "I'll tell him what happened, so you'll be off the hook."

"No, you covered for me all the time at Jody's," he shook his head. "I got it this time, you've been through enough tonight."

"Give me your phone," she said as she held her hand out.

"Why?" he frowned but handed it to her.

"I'm going to run your battery down playing games and videos," she said. "You can tell him your phone died and you lost track of time."

"Good idea," he said.

Ben pulled into the garage at the bunker and Maggie headed inside through another way as he entered through the normal way. It was the loudest way to enter the bunker with the metal staircase and he knew it would immediately get Adam's attention so Maggie could get in from the garage to her room without running into him.

Adam was waiting up for Ben and he was more annoyed than anything else. He wasn't particularly worried anything happened to his nephew, he knew he was probably running late because he wanted to stay out longer. If he had been more than an hour late, then Adam would have started to worry.

The lights were on in the bunker and Ben saw Adam rise from the table in the other room and come toward the bottom of the stairs as Ben came down. "What time is it, Ben?" he asked.

"Twelve forty-five," he answered.

"And, what time is your curfew?"

"Midnight," he said.

"Why are you late?" he asked calmly, which only made Ben more nervous.

"My phone died, and I lost track of time," he said as he pulled it from his pocket. "And, then a friend called me and needed a ride. They were in a bad situation."

Adam held his hand out. "Phone and keys," he said simply. "You're grounded for a week."

"Yes, sir," Ben sighed. "Sorry, Uncle Adam."

Adam nodded. "Go on to bed, we'll talk about this tomorrow."

OOOOO

A few days later Maggie, Ben and Luke filed into the bunker after school and Adam's quiet working environment went from peaceful to chaos in a matter of seconds. Ben headed into the kitchen like he normally did after practise so he could get something to eat. Maggie went to her room to get changed and grab her laptop. And, Luke sat down at the table with Adam.

"How was school?" Adam asked.

"We had a pop quiz," Luke said nervously. "You have to sign it."

"What was the quiz on?" Adam frowned, picking up on Luke's nerves.

"It was on homework from the weekend," he said.

"Well, it shouldn't have been a problem for you since you told me you finished all your homework, right?" Adam raised a brow.

"Not exactly," he admitted. "It was a lot and I don't get it, and I was tired after soccer on Friday and then, I don't know, I guess I just wanted to spend time with you on Saturday."

"Let me see it," Adam held out his hand and Luke forked over his test hesitantly. "Hmm, well, get a piece of paper and write out the correct answers."

"Why?" Luke whined.

"Because, that's how you learn." Adam said. "And, when I tell you to do your homework, you better do it next time instead of lying to me."

"Yes, sir," Luke said.

"Good boy," he nodded.

"Uncle Adam, can I meet up with some guys later?" Ben asked.

"Not unless you want to explain to me why you missed curfew on Saturday," he said.

Ben sighed. "I told you why, why can't you accept it?"

"Because you're lying," Adam said.

"I'm not lying, I just can't tell you the details because I promised them I wouldn't," he said. "I was helping a friend."

Adam crossed his arms. "Why would some friend of yours care if you told me, and why would you stick your neck out for someone you just met?"

"Because it's private," he said.

"Then, the answer is no, Ben." Adam said as Ben followed him around the bunker. "You broke curfew, you have no valid reason as to why, so you are grounded for a week."

"I was barely late!" Ben argued.

"You were almost an hour late," Adam corrected. "And, you ignored my phone calls."

"I didn't have service!" he continued with the excuses. "Uncle Adam, you're not being fair. Please just let me go tonight, I'll come home on time, early even!"

"Ben, enough." Adam said firmly. "I am not having this conversation with you again, but I suggest you come up with a better version of events when your Dad calls."

"You're going to tell him?" Ben asked.

"No, but you are, and trust me he won't accept this little tale of yours." Ben sighed and glanced briefly at Maggie. She looked like she wanted to say something, and the exchange and the slight shake of head from Ben didn't go unnoticed by Adam either. "What is going on with you two?"

"What?" Ben deflected. "Nothing."

"Ben," Maggie said.

"No," he cut her off. "It's fine. I was late, it's my fault, I'll stay home."

Ben headed to his room quickly before Adam could stop him and ask more questions. Maggie hesitated and looked torn as Adam watched her, but she eventually followed Ben and it was enough for Adam to know something really was going on now. He sighed as he pulled out his phone and called for back up.

"What's up?" Dean asked.

"Your kids are conspiring," Adam said. "Ben was late from that party Saturday night and he won't tell me why. Maggie seems to know something about it."

"Did you ground him?" Dean asked.

"Yeah, still nothing," he said. "He's hiding something and I don't know how bad it has to be for him to protect someone he just met a few weeks ago."

"Oh, little brother, you're missing what's right in front of you," he said.

"What do you mean?" he frowned.

"Think about it," Dean said. "Who were the only people I'd stick my neck out for when it came to punishments from Dad?"

Adam sighed as it suddenly dawned on him. "Me and Sam."

"Bingo," he said. "I'd throw everyone under the bus, but not you two. I'd risk it to protect you guys. He's protecting her."

"Yeah, but from what?" he said. "She was here the whole night."

"Was she?" he asked. "Did you physically see her?"

Adam sighed. "No," he said. "But, why would she sneak out? I told her she could go."

"I don't know, little brother." Dean said. "But, you need to go talk to them and find out. If they won't spill, you call me."

Adam headed to Ben's room and could hear them fiercely whispering behind Ben's door. He knocked once before opening it and barging into the room, effectively silencing both of them. "Alright, why are you protecting your sister?" he asked while looking at Ben.

"You told him?" Ben asked as he turned to Maggie.

"No," she frowned. "I haven't said anything."

"Well, one of you better start talking," Adam said. "I don't know what is going on and I don't know what you are hiding it from me, but I've had enough with whatever little scheme this is."

"It's not a scheme." Ben said. "She just knows who I was helping. It's a friend of hers."

Maggie sighed. "I am the friend," she admitted.

Adam raised a brow. "Excuse me?"

"He was late because I called him to pick me up from a date," she said.

"The date you told me you weren't going on?" Adam frowned.

"I told you I was sleeping and snuck out to meet the guy," she said. "He took me to this weird party and got drunk and was being annoying, so I called Ben to come and get me and that's why he was late. I snuck back in through the garage."

"I'll get to you in a minute," Adam said to Maggie, clearly annoyed, before he turned to Ben. "Why didn't you just tell me that?"

"She just wanted a night out without a chaperone," he said. "The guy ended up being a jerk and she was upset, so I covered for her because I didn't think she needed a lecture after what she went through."

"Alright, I understand, but you should have called me and told me from the beginning that you needed to give someone a drive," he said to Ben before he turned to Maggie. "And you should know that you can always call me if you're in trouble. I might not be happy, but I will always be there if you need me. That goes for both of you."

"I know," Ben nodded. "I shouldn't have lied, I just didn't know what to do."

"You did the right thing," Adam said. "But, you did it the wrong way."

"That's my fault," Maggie said. "I called him for help, I made him late, and I told him to lie. And, he did it to protect me, so he shouldn't be grounded. I should be."

"You are, for the record," Adam nodded at her. "And, Ben, you may have done the right thing, but you still lied to me and this covering for each other isn't something I want to encourage, so you are still grounded."

"Yeah, I figured," he sighed. "I'm going to start dinner."

Adam turned to Maggie with his hands on his hips. "You want to explain to me why you lied to me and snuck out?"

"It was stupid," she sighed and sat down on the bed. "I didn't want you hovering around me on my date, but turns out I really could have used you."

"Did something happen I need to know about?" he raised a concerned brow.

"No, he just turned out to be a jerk," she said. "And, I'm an idiot for getting myself into that situation just because I want to fit in at school."

Adam sat down beside her and put his arm around her. "I'm always here for you," he said. "And, sometimes you need to remember that we hover because we care and because we want to make sure you're safe."

"I know," she said as she leaned into him and he kissed her head. "How long am I grounded?"

"I want to say two, but I'm going to say one, because I think you already learned this lesson the hard way," he sighed. "You know I love you, right?"

"Yeah," she smiled. "Love you too."


	8. Chapter 8

Dean and Sam came through the bunker later the next day. It had been almost a week and they were tired, but they really wanted to see their kids, even if there had been some issues. They both expected it, and it could have been worse, but it would have been nice to come home and not have to deal with it.

Maggie was doing her homework at the table and she barely glanced up when they came in. She knew it was them, and as much as she was happy to see them, she was a little nervous because she knew they knew what happened over the weekend.

"Hi Daddy," she said. "Hi Uncle Sam."

"Hi sweetheart," Sam smiled.

"Hey baby," Dean dropped a bag on the table and ran a hand down the back of her head as he dropped a kiss to her forehead. "Where's your brother?" he asked.

"Football practice," she said. "Uncle Adam went to pick him up."

"And, Luke?" Sam asked.

"In his room," she said. She wasn't going to sell him out and say he was playing video games, so she didn't elaborate. "Uncle Sam can you read my English paper?"

Sam and Dean exchanged a glance. "I'm going to check on Luke first and then I will after dinner," Sam said with a nod.

He left the room and headed down the hallway. Dean leaned against the table, half sitting on it with one leg resting on the table and the other still on the ground. He closed her laptop to get her full attention and rested his arm on his thigh.

"Start talking, kiddo," he said. She knew what he wanted to talk about, and he knew it too.

"I just wanted to be a regular teen on a date," she sighed and leaned back in the chair. "I didn't want to think about monsters, or have a chaperone, or be the weird new kid."

He raised a brow and narrowed his eyes. "So, you snuck out and got yourself into a dangerous situation?"

"Daddy, it was a football player and I'm a witch," she shrugged. "I wasn't in any real danger."

"A regular teen would have been," he said with a nod. "What were you thinking?"

"I called Ben," she said.

"For help or for a ride?" he asked.

"Does it matter?" she sighed.

He frowned as he sighed and looked upwards, like he was looking or asking for strength to get through this conversation. He studied her face until she broke eye contact with him. "What were you afraid of?" he asked. "The boy or yourself?"

"Neither," she said as she looked back to him. "I can defend myself without using power, you taught me that."

"Doesn't mean you're ready to do it against another person," he said. "Baby, will you just talk to me?"

"I'm not afraid of losing control of my power, and I'm sure as hell not afraid of some idiot jock," she sighed.

"Then what is it?"

"You," she blurted out. "I'm afraid of losing you, and that I made you move us here."

He frowned. "What does moving here have to do with it?"

"You were right," she shrugged. "We had a sense of normalcy with Jody we just don't have here. This bunker is lonely, there's no home vibe, and I hate the school. But, I want to be where you are and when you're not here,"

"It amplifies your fear?" he finished and she nodded. "I know what that's like, remember? I grew up in this too."

"Yeah," she nodded with a sad smile and he saw the tears spring to her eyes. "And, your Dad died doing this."

"Maggie," he said softly and moved off the table. He turned her chair and kneeled in front of her to make sure he made direct eye contact with her. "We're going to be okay."

"How do you know that?" she asked.

"Because we always are," he said as he wiped away her tears. "C'mere, baby."

He stood up and pulled her up with him. He wrapped her in his arms and she clung to him, listening to his heart beat hoping it would calm hers. She didn't want to let go, he always made her feel safe. He was her home, her constant, her security blanket, and her calming force. They separated just as Adam and Ben were coming in the door.

"You get to your room and you bring me your video game console, your laptop, and your phone," Adam said and Maggie watched Dean's demeanor immediately shift as they listened.

"Why are you making this into such a big deal?" Ben argued. "You embarrassed me in front of the coach."

"I embarrassed you?" Adam turned on the stairs and looked back to his nephew who was definitely standing at the top. "I show up to pick you up and have to pull your delinquent ass out of a fight with your own teammate because you can't keep your temper in check."

"Yeah, and instead of letting coach handle it, you swoop in and try to act like some tough, big shot authoritarian," he said. "You're barely around, and you always get like this when you come."

"Like what?" he frowned.

"Like some loser who has nothing else going on in his life so you come here and try to play Dad," Ben said. "You're not my Dad."

"Ben," Dean interrupted with the Winchester growl in his voice, surprising them both.

They didn't know Dean and Sam were back yet, Ben especially didn't know or he wouldn't have even thought about talking back to Adam in that way. Dean knew Adam never would have told him about the details of that conversation, which made Dean wonder how many times something like this has happened and his brother kept it from him.

Dean took a few steps toward the other room and came into view to see Ben's face pale and even Adam looked nervous. He pointed to the floor in front of him and he didn't have to say a word to get Ben to comply. He brushed passed Adam and slowly made his way down the stairs to face his Father. Dean stared him down for a few seconds before he spoke, just long enough for Adam to make his way down the stairs too and for Sam to return to see what was going on.

"What is going on?" Dean asked.

"He made me look like a little kid in front of coach and the team," Ben argued. "He didn't even listen to my side and is being a-"

"Ben," Dean said firmly as his son's voice had started rising. "Let me remind you, I am your Dad, and if you continue to speak in that tone in that way about a member of our family, I will handle this right here and now."

"Yes, sir," Ben mumbled. 

"Did you get in a fight?" Dean asked and Ben nodded. "Why?"

"I just did," he said and Dean raised a brow. "Stupid guy stuff. Coach would have made us run laps and it would have been over."

Dean looked to Adam. "Care to elaborate on his story?"

"The coach blew the whistle and they didn't stop, he stepped in to try and stop it and pulled the other guy away and Ben sucker punched the kid as he was being held back," Adam explained. "So, I stepped in then and hauled him off the field."

"I don't see the problem Adam caused, Ben," Dean said. "I'm only hearing him fixing problems you created."

Adam watched his nephew squirm under Dean's watch. "He didn't like that I told his coach I would discipline him when we got home," he said.

"You said it in front of other players too," Ben glared at his uncle.

"Because the Coach was talking suspension and that ended the conversation," Adam defended. "Not to mention you were completely out of control, you tried to fight me and you ignored orders to stop."

Dean looked back at his son and chuckled low and dangerously. "Ben, you got off lucky," he said. "Had I been there, and you pulled a stunt like that with me, I would have dealt with you right there on that field, but you wouldn't have done that if I was there, would you have?"

"No sir," Ben admitted.

"So, then why do you think you can behave like that and speak to Adam in a way you wouldn't dare speak to me?" Dean pressed and Ben shook his head with a shrug. "You owe him the same respect you owe me. You hear me?"

"Yes sir," Ben said.

"What was the fight about?" Sam asked calmly. He had a way of getting the kids to talk to open up and talk to him in a way Dean and Adam just didn't understand. Ben remained silent but Sam watched his eyes momentarily dart to Maggie. "Ah," he nodded with a sympathetic smile.

Dean frowned, he had missed the exchange, as did Adam. "What?"

Sam turned to Maggie before he looked back to Ben. "The guy you got into the fight with," he said. "That the same guy Maggie went out with on the weekend?"

Ben nodded but he didn't say anything, and he didn't make eye contact with any of the adults in the room. Dean and Adam exchanged a frown and Sam continued.

"He say something about your sister you didn't like?" he asked and Ben nodded again.

"You didn't tell me that," Adam said, softer but still firm.

"You didn't ask me," Ben mumbled. "You just assumed I started it and was the one in the wrong."

"Ben, you did start it," Adam said. "I saw you throw the first punch."

Dean eyed his son and sighed. "Let me get this straight," he said. "He makes a comment about Maggie, you start a fight, the coach has to physically stop you, you don't stop at the coach's whistle, or the coach's command, you don't stop when the coach pulls the other guy off. Adam has to haul you out of the situation and you try to fight him, and you only stop once you find out you're getting punished when you get home," he said. "That about right?"

"Yes sir," Ben said. "But-"

Dean held up his hand and Ben went silent. "I'm all for you protecting your sister, but not this way. It sounds like you were out of control son, just like Adam said, and that's dangerous because you've been trained in a way where you could really hurt someone."

"He said she was easy," Ben blurted out. "He lied and was bragging that he hooked up with the hot new girl. He didn't even know she was my sister, but he knows now."

Dean frowned heavily and put his hands on Ben's shoulders. "I get it, I do, and I would have been angry and wanted to punch that kid too, but, what does it accomplish?" he asked. "It's not a fair fight, Ben. You know better, and even if your emotions got the best of you, it's not enough to disobey Adam."

"She's my sister," he argued.

"I know, bud, but she wasn't in any danger," he nodded as he glanced back at Maggie. "And, as she likes to continuously remind us, she is capable of taking care of herself."

Ben sighed. "Am I still in trouble?"

"Yes," Dean said. "I'm not raising an out of control teenager who thinks violence is the answer. This was Adam's watch, it's his decision and I think he made it clear how he wants to handle it. So, the next time you feel your temper rising, you remember this lesson."

"Yes, Dad." He said as he looked to Adam. "Sorry, Uncle Adam. I didn't mean those things I said."

"I know that," he said sincerely. "I'll meet you in your room."

They watched Ben walk away and Sam nodded at Maggie and Luke, silently telling them to head to their rooms as well so the adults could speak alone. Sam waited and watched them disappear down the hall and into their rooms before he turned back to his brothers.

"Dean, Sam," Adam shook his head. "I'm sorry. I thought I could handle them."

Dean frowned. "You did, they're alive and well," he assured.

"Yeah, Adam," Sam shook his head. "Missed curfew, missed homework, a school fight, it's all pretty normal behavior."

"They push buttons, it's what teenagers do," Dean said. "I told you this wasn't easy, little brother."

"Yeah, about that," he said. "When Dad first came into my life, he was in and out, and I wanted to get his attention. So, I started getting into fights at school, skipping class, basically making things hard for my Mom so she'd have no choice but to call him for help."

Dean frowned as he listened to his brother. "I can't imagine that went well," he said.

"It didn't," Adam smirked. "But, I wanted him around more and I thought that was the way, even if it meant he was going to whip my ass first."

"You think Ben is doing this on purpose?" Sam crossed his arms. "I thought all that ended when we moved them here?"

"All I'm saying is he saw me standing there today," Adam shrugged. "And, I've never had that boy not follow a direct order before today. You've been gone for a week and he's been asking for it since the day you left."

"Well, that's not how we do things in this family," Dean said as he ran a hand over his face.

Adam grinned. "That's what Dad said when he caught on to what I was doing."

"Didn't stop Dad from tanning you," Dean nodded toward the hall. "And, it's not going to stop you from disciplining him."

"He wants you," Adam argued.

"He needs to learn the lesson Dad taught you, that you can't always get what you want," Dean said. "I will talk to him after you're done."

OOOOO

Sam took Luke to soccer practice and brought Maggie along with him to give his brothers and nephew some space. They were sitting in the car, facing the field and eating frozen yogurt. It was her favorite dessert, and he got it for her when he wanted her to talk. She brought her laptop too, she was going to use it to finish her paper, but she hadn't touched it because she didn't really want to talk to him about school.

"So, how are you feeling?" he asked.

"About what?"

"Everything," he shrugged. "Since we moved, what happened on the weekend, all of it."

"Can I be honest?" she looked at him.

He nodded. "Always."

"I don't like it here," she sighed. "I don't like the school, or the teachers, or the students. I don't like the bunker, it's lonely and sad, and it feels like an office, or someone else's house. And, I don't like how it feels when you're gone. But, I made you move us here and I love that you're around more."

"Okay, first of all, you didn't make us do anything," he said. "We moved you because we felt it was the right thing to do, and it was. We knew the transition would be difficult, and it's okay that you don't feel completely at home. Honestly, your Dad loves the bunker, but I don't."

"Really?" she asked.

"Yeah, but I'll tell you what," he said. "I started liking it a lot more since you three moved in. Now, I come back and it feels like home."

"My Mom used to say home is people, not places," she smiled.

"She was a smart woman and you're a lot like her," he said. "And, listen, you had some pretty big adjustment issues with Jody too, remember?"

"Maybe," she drew the word out and they both laughed.

"I think what you really wanted was us at Jody's," he said. "You didn't want things to change, you just wanted us to be there with you. I wish we could have made that work."

"Me too," she smiled slightly at him.

"You'll adjust here just like you did there. High school is hard in general, more so when you start a new one for your senior year," he said. "And, even more when you get off to a bad start with a bad guy."

"Yeah," she sighed. "I'm supposed to be the smart one."

"So am I, but we're still human," he said. "You made a bad judgement call, that's all. You got yourself out of it."

"Yeah, by getting Ben into it," she said. "He's not off to a good start either, and it's because of me."

"You're like your Mom, Ben is like your Dad," he said. "Protective, even when it put them at risk and they don't care. It's not your fault any more than Dean defending me my whole life and getting into trouble for it. It's just a part of who they are, and it's not a bad part, but it's a dangerous part sometimes."

She sighed. "Sometimes I think all our problems could be solved if hunting wasn't a part of our lives and we were a normal family, but then we wouldn't be us without hunting, and some of us wouldn't even be here."

"You just have to go on what is, not what could be." He said. "And, I think what is, is pretty good."

They picked up pizza for dinner after Luke's practice ended and had an informal family dinner. They tried to have those whenever they were all together, it was important and Jody always made a point to have a sit down dinner so it was something they continued to do. Things seemed to be going alright and ended on a good note when the kids went off to bed, leaving the brothers alone to talk in the common room.

"I think we need to make a family room in the bunker," Sam said. "Maggie was talking to be about how this feels like more like a workplace than a house."

"Yeah," Adam frowned as he looked around. "I noticed they all disappear into their rooms to watch TV or play video games and it feels very divided."

"So, what?" Dean said. "We get some couches and move the TV and video games out here?"

"Worth a shot," Sam frowned. "Or, we turn one of the rooms down there into it."

Dean shrugged as he sipped his beer. "Not a bad idea," he said. "What else did she say?"

"Just that she's having adjustment issues at school," he said.

"Senior year, new school," Adam shook his head. "That can't be easy."

"Hey, are you sticking around?" Dean asked. "We could use the help."

"Yeah, we really could," Sam said. "It would give us a chance to always have one of us around."

Adam looked from one brother to the other. "What is this really about?"

Dean leaned forward and his eyes narrowed. "You, hunting alone," he said and Adam sighed as he rolled his eyes. "Don't lie to me, brother. I know and you know it's dangerous."

"And you know some of us work better alone," he said. "I'm not a little kid, Dean."

"You'll always be my little brother," he said as he pointed at Sam. "So will he, and I don't like him hunting alone either."

"So, you want me to give up hunting to babysit your kids while you two continue to hunt?" Adam asked with a raised brow.

"No, no of course not," Sam said as he diffused the situation. "We want you to team up with us. And, if the hunt is longer, we take turns sitting it out."

"It's a win-win," Dean said. "I won't worry about the kids, and I won't worry about you."

"Let me think about it," Adam said.

Dean wanted to push the subject further, despite glares from Sam telling him to leave it alone. He liked getting his way and being in charge and in control of his family, but ultimately he was interrupted by Maggie coming into the room. 

"Daddy?" she said.

He turned to look at her and frowned when he saw her. "What's wrong, baby?"

"I can't sleep," she mumbled. "I don't feel well, I have a bad headache."

He walked over to feel her head glands on her neck. "You feel a little warm," he said.

"Here sweetheart," Sam said as he handed her a bottle of water and some Tylenol.

"Thanks Uncle Sam," she said as she took them.

"Come on," Dean said. "I'll lie with you."

He had a feeling that's what she wanted all along. This usually happened once he was had been away for a while and he knew as much as she was saying she could take care of herself and she was fine, maybe what happened with the football player took more of a toll than they, or even she realized. Dean didn't want to push her to talk about anything she didn't want to, so he simply put a movie on and put his arm around her and held her close to him. It didn't take long before both of them drifted off to sleep.

A few hours later Ben woke up and went looking for Dean. He found his room empty and knew he must be with Maggie. Luke's door was open and he could see Sam was in there with him and wondered if Luke had another nightmare. He lingered outside Maggie's door for a minute, but he really didn't want to pull his Dad away from her, because he knew she probably needed him more, but Ben needed someone too.

He saw the light flooding out from under the room Adam was staying in and knew he was still awake. He knocked lightly and it didn't take long for Adam to open the door.

"Hey," he frowned as he looked down at his nephew. "You okay, bud?"

Ben shrugged. "I can't sleep and Dad's with Maggie," he said. "Uncle Sam is with Luke."

"Come on," he said as he put his hand on his shoulder and guided him into the room. He closed the door behind him and sat down with him on the bed. "What's going on?"

"I don't know," he sighed. "Are you staying around for a while?"

"I'm thinking about it," he said. "Is that something you'd be okay with?"

"Might be nice," he said. "Maggie's the only girl, Luke is the youngest-"

"And you feel a little lost?" he said. "So, you act out for attention and that doesn't go so well does it?"

"Not really," he said. "Maggie still gets him at the end of the day."

"Did you know that your grandpa didn't come into my life until I was twelve?" he asked.

"No," Ben frowned.

"Well, it's true, and I didn't meet your Dad and Sam until I was fourteen," he explained. "I thought Dad loved them more because they got him all the time and he took them hunting, and I felt like I was just this second class kid to him. So, I started doing stupid things and getting in trouble because I knew that meant he'd come around more. But, all I had to do to get him to come around more was ask him to. When I learned that, and when I decided to stop feeling jealous and left out, that's when I felt most included."

"It just feels like she's his first priority because she's a girl and a witch, and then Uncle Sam, well Luke is his son so obviously he comes first for him," he sighed. "Sometimes I don't feel like I fit into this family anymore."

"Ben, I promise you he doesn't love her more, and you fit," he said as he put his arm around him. "You fit right here, and if you went into Maggie's room right now and told your Dad you needed him he'd get up and be there for you, and Maggie would let him, and you know that."

"I want you to stay," Ben mumbled.

Adam smirked. "You got it, buddy." He said.


	9. Chapter 9

Dean headed into the high school less than pleased with the current situation. He wasn't sure exactly what had happened, but he knew both of his children were in trouble and he wasn't thrilled about it. He almost expected this from Ben, he had been pushing limits and it wouldn't be the first time he got a call from the school regarding his son, but this was the first time he ever had a call about problems with Maggie. Sam wanted to come, even Adam offered, they wanted to make sure Dean didn't lose his temper, but he shut down the suggestion as he did when he didn't like an idea.

He stormed through the school hallway and into the office in his usual intimidating way and he immediately watched the people in the room take notice, including Maggie and Ben. He was dressed in a suit, keeping up the façade that he was an agent and he was ushered into the principal's office with his kids before they had a chance to explain. Ben's demeanor always changed when Dean was around, but he was surprised to see that Maggie had an attitude she wasn't dropping.

She was standing behind the chairs in front of the desk with her arms crossed. She refused to sit down and she looked like she was ready to fight someone. One look from Dean got Ben to sit down, but Maggie just stared at him, even when he raised a brow at her she refused to back down. He glanced her over, she was wearing black combat boots with black jeans with rips in the knees, a white tank top and a red plaid shirt tied around her waist.

"Maggie," Dean said as he approached her. He reached out to guide her to the chair but she pulled away and that's when he saw the red mark on her back. "What is that from?"

"Dad," she said as she tried to brush him off.

Dean grabbed her upper arm and pulled her closer to him. He made eye contact with her before he turned her and moved her hair off her back to get a better look. She felt him move her bra strap gently and she knew he pieced together what had happened, or at least part of what happened. She turned and made eye contact with him and that's when he saw her break just enough to know that whatever happened, she didn't start.

He turned to the principal. "You want to explain to me why my daughter has what appears to be a mark from someone assaulting her?"

"There was an incident," he said. "A student snapped her bra strap in the hallway, and she escalated that into an assault of the same student."

"And, where is he?" Dean asked. "I'm just assuming it was a he."

"He is getting treated by the nurse," he said. "She broke his nose."

Dean looked a Maggie and she shrugged. "He assaulted her, she defended herself. Why is she in trouble?"

"We have a zero tolerance for violence," he said. "He said it was a joke, he made a poor judgement call, but she followed him into the boy's locker room and essentially attacked him."

"I didn't attack him, I confronted him," she explained. "I turned to walk away, he tried to do it again, so yeah, I punched him."

"Snapping a girl's bra strap isn't against your violence policy?" Dean frowned. "Are you kidding me? What year is this? You can't seriously think that kid didn't have it coming."

"Maybe he did, but there were more appropriate ways she should have handled it," he said.

"I see," Dean nodded. "I didn't hear from you when Ben was in a fight last week, because, boys will be boys, right? But, she's a girl, and girls shouldn't show their bra straps, and they shouldn't fight back because it's unladylike or some 1950s crap like that, right?"

"It's not like that, but considering Ben also got in a fight with the same student the other week and they just started here, I thought it was best to have a conversation with you."

"I teach my kids to stand up for themselves and each other," he said. "Someone puts their hands on you, you get to defend yourself. That's my policy."

"Well, maybe you should find a school that's more suited to your family policies," he said.

"Maybe I should," he said. "Ben, Maggie, let's go."

They exchanged a glance but followed him out of the office and into the parking lot. Dean being protective is never a surprise to them, but usually he left the educational decisions to Sam. It also wasn't unusual for Dean to overreact, Sam typically was suck sorting that stuff out later too, but this was completely new territory for them all. They figured it was just best to follow him and wait for him to start talking, but he never did.

The drive back to the bunker was silent. Ben rode shotgun and spent most of the drive half day dreaming out the passenger side window. Dean gripped the steering wheel tightly and kept his eyes on the road ahead, only glancing in the rear view mirror every few minutes to make sure Maggie was still following closely behind. Ben all but escaped from the awkwardness the moment Dean pulled into the garage, but he waited until Maggie pulled up in.

He was leaning slightly on the hood of his baby as he watched his other baby climb out of the driver's side of the car he fixed up and picked out for her. She loved classic cars, just like him, she had a leather jacket, just like him, she was tough and stubborn and strong willed, just like him. And, sometimes, in moments like these, her being just like him worried him the most.

Maggie walked around the car and stood in front of him.

"I hated it there," she finally broke the silence.

"I'm sorry, sweetheart," Dean said as stood up and dropped a kiss to her head. "I should have listened to you when you told me you weren't happy there."

"Yeah, well, could have just been teenage angst," she grinned and he smirked. "Just promise me we don't have to go back."

"I'll do my best," he said. "But, Sam might have other plans."

"Why can't he just homeschool us?" she asked. "He literally hovers over us, what would be the difference? And, then we could hunt."

Dean glanced down at her and raised a brow as he held the door into the bunker open for her.

"Dad, come on, you know it's going to happen." She said as she ducked under his arm. "Why delay the inevitable?"

"Forgive me for trying to keep you alive, and you know, let you have normal teenage experiences."

"Like today?" she said. "Nah, I'm over it."

"You're over education?" Sam's voice surprised them both, mainly because he seemed to pop up out of nowhere.

"Geez, Uncle Sam, for someone so damn tall I have no idea how you move around that silently," she said.

"It's a gift you don't have," he said.

"I don't know, I snuck right passed Adam the other week," she shrugged and was met by disapproving glances. "Too soon?"

"Little bit," Adam said, but he winked at her with a slight grin.

"Maggie, I need to talk to your Dad, go join the boys in the TV room," Sam said without looking at her. She rolled her eyes and then he did look at her. "Check that attitude on your way."

"I don't care what you talk about, I'm not going back there," she said.

"Then you don't need to go see Claire this weekend to tour colleges," Sam said.

"That isn't fair!" Maggie argued. "We've been planning that trip since we moved here."

"Why would you need to look at colleges if you don't finish high school, Maggie?" he asked as he crossed his arms.

"I'll write the GED," she put her hands on her hips. "You think I won't pass that with my eyes closed?"

"Oh, shots fired," Adam mumbled, slightly amused. "Look Mags, if Sammy wouldn't let me take the 'Good Enough Diploma' he sure as hell isn't going to let you do it."

"And, it's good I didn't. You were pre-med," Sam said.

"So? You were pre-law and you both ended up in the same place," Maggie said. "Hunting. Because this is our story, the family business."

"You see?" Sam said as he looked to Dean. "Dad drilled that into our heads and he was wrong. Now we're stuck cleaning up his mess and I'll be damned if our kids follow in our foot steps."

"You said I can be anything, that I could do anything," Maggie said. "Well, I want to be a hunter."

"Maggie," Sam said, trying desperately to control his temper. "Being a hunter isn't a job. Take a look around, and we got lucky with this bunker. We grew up on the road, in motels, and running credit card scams. You are way too smart to throw it all away like I did."

"You're always doing that, you're trying to live through us because you regret leaving college to start hunting," she said. "So, what? I go to college until one of you goes missing, or until some supernatural being with a vendetta against one of you comes after me or someone I love?"

"You want to give up college and throw your whole life away because something might happen?" Sam said. "Do you even hear yourself right now?"

"Do you hear yourself?" Maggie snapped. "Dad never went to college because a demon killed your Mom and you spent all your time going after it for revenge. You went to college. Dad came to find you because your Dad went missing and then a demon killed your girlfriend. And, a damn ghoul went after you, Uncle Adam. And now, here all three of you are. I know how my story ends."

"Alright, enough, all of you," Dean said. "Maggie, go to the TV room."

"Dad-"

"Now." He fixed her with a look and it was enough to get her to stop, even if she really didn't want to. She resisted the urge to sigh dramatically and roll her eyes. Dean waited until she disappeared down the hall and closed the door, before he turned back to Sam and then fixed him with a look.

"What?" Sam said.

"She has a point, Sam." Adam said. "You gave me the same speech when I told you I dropped out of college."

"Oh, so you're on their side?" Sam raised a brow. "And, dropping out of college is one thing, but high school?"

"I get it, I really do," Dean said. "I wanted you to have that apple pie life and get out, both of you. And, I want them out of it too, but demanding they go to college isn't going to be enough to make them go."

"Ben came in here and told me everything," Sam said. "He was almost smug about it, like he was proud he was kicked out."

"He was not kicked out," Dean said. "I pulled them out after that principal wanted to blame Maggie for what happened."

Sam nodded, still clearly annoyed. "What's your plan, Dean? You're just going to let them drop out?"

"Sam, they hated it there," Adam said. "They both told me, repeatedly. That's why they're happy. It's about the school, that one, not school in general."

"We'll get them into another school." Dean said.

"There are few and far between around here," Sam said. "That was the best public school within an hour of this place."

"What about that private school you kept talking about?" Dean said.

"Two problems, we're not Catholic and we can't afford it," Sam said. "You didn't think this through, you overreacted and left me to clean up the mess like always."

"Sam," Dean said sharply. "I will not let my daughter be assaulted and degraded in any way or form. Not by some teenager douche, and definitely not by the middle-aged principal who should know better."

"To what extent, Dean?" Sam argued.

"We have always down this parent thing together, but make no mistake, I have final say with Maggie and Ben."

"Alright, my turn to tell everyone to chill out," Adam stepped between his brothers. "You two killing each other isn't going to help the kids, because then they're going to be stuck with just me."

"Look, you weren't there," Dean said. "You didn't hear him, you didn't see Maggie's face, and your job may be the school thing, but my job is to protect them. Like I've protected the two of you and I'm damn good at it."

"He's right," Adam said as he glanced at Sam and shrugged. "Maggie was right, none of us got out of this life. If you're going to have any hope in hell of making hunting not an option, they need to be happy in school."

"Maggie was miserable, Sam." Dean said as he sat down at the table. "So was Ben, and you know it."

"Fine," Sam said with a sigh as he joined him at the table. "What do we do?"

"Homeschool?" Dean suggested and Sam rolled his eyes. "You already hover over them and help them."

Adam smirked. "That's true," he said. "I could help."

"I'll think about it," he said as he pulled out his laptop and began researching schools in the district again.

OOOOO

Sam spent the afternoon calling schools and looking into a few options. Adam left to pick up Luke from school and take him to soccer practice and Dean and Ben just left to go on a food run. They had limited groceries in the house and usually Maggie or Adam shopped, but Adam had filled Dean in that Ben seemed to need some extra time with him. Dean had started making a point of spending more time with him, even on simple things like food runs, and hunting research, despite Sam being against it.

Maggie slipped out of the rec room after she got bored enough from watching TV. She didn't really know what to do, usually Sam came to her and made her talk about whatever they had argued about before she had time to think things fully through. Now, she just felt stupid and guilty she said all those things to him, even if they were mostly true.

"Uncle Sam," Maggie said softly from the doorway. "Are you mad?"

Sam frowned and glanced up from his laptop to scan her face. "At you?" he asked and she nodded. "C'mere," he said as he waved her over.

Maggie slowly moved from the doorway to sit at the table with him. He tried to catch her gaze but she was being quiet and shy, and she only did that when she felt guilty. It was the one area she differed from Dean in, she didn't shut down or shut people out like he did when he got upset, she let it eat at her until things were fixed. It almost made him feel badly for not going to talk to her sooner.

"What are we talking about?" he asked. "What happened at school or the conversation after?"

"Both," she mumbled. "You didn't even ask me what happened. Neither did they. They just blamed me."

"Why don't you tell me what happened then?" he said.

"You already know," she said.

"Maybe, but I'd like to hear it from you," he said but sighed when she still didn't elaborate. "Alright, I think your Dad overreacted, but I'd never be upset with you for something that wasn't your fault. And, from what I heard, it was not your fault."

"I punched him on purpose," she admitted. "But, he deserved it."

Sam smirked. "Yeah, he did," he said and she smiled slightly. "I was never angry about you punching some little punk. I was angry because you and Ben both seemed a little too eager to stay out of school and start hunting."

She glanced at him. "So, are you mad about the things I said to you?"

"No, I know you were upset and so was I and some things just come out in the moment," he said. "I think you have a point. I have been hard on you guys about school because I regret dropping out, but I think I have a point too."

"I know," she sighed and he watched her struggle.

"What's wrong, sweetheart?" he asked.

"Everything," she whined. "I don't know if I want to go to college, but every time I try and talk to you about it, you don't listen to me. You don't get it."

"Well, then explain it to me." Sam said. "I'm listening to you right now."

"I spent twelve years without you guys, then I get you and my Mom dies. Then, you dump me with Jody and we beg for years to stay with you, and only after something comes for Alex do you agree. And, I finally get here and the school sucks and I hate it, but you won't stop talking about college like you can't wait to get rid of me. I'll be gone again and all I keep thinking about is my mom got out and she died, and Adam's mom kept him out and she died, and you got out and then Luke's Mom died. No matter where we go, this life follows us and if I go to college either I'm going to die or something happens to one of you. So, what's the point? Either something is going to come for me, or one of you will show up on my doorstep telling me the other one is missing or dead."

"Okay, alright, hang on," Sam said as he stood up and pulled her up with him. He could see her unraveling and he wanted to calm her down. Maggie let him pull her into his embrace and she clung tightly to him as he wrapped her arms around her and dropped a kiss to her head. He smiled down at her as they separated. "I can't promise you that nothing bad will ever happen to one of us, or to you, but I love you and we'd never let anything happen to you without putting up one hell of a fight."

She smiled. "I know, love you too."

"And, it's all true, all those things have happened, so I understand your fear and worry, but do you want to go to college?"

"It doesn't matter I know how things will end up," she sighed as they sat back down.

"Maggie," Sam said softly. "Do you want to go?"

"I don't know," she said. "I try not to let myself want things."

Sam's frown deepened. "Maggie, we didn't move you here because we wanted you to have a normal life, one we didn't get to have so you would have choices and you could want things," he said. "We didn't have a choice. Hunting was the only option and when I went to college things blew up. I don't want that for you guys. You don't have to be a hunter just because we are, or because you're afraid you might be reeled back in."

"What if I want to be a hunter?" she asked.

Sam studied her as he leaned back in his chair. "I know you don't," he said. "Listen, go tour colleges with Claire. We can talk about hunting when you get back."


	10. Chapter 10

While Sam and Dean tried to figure out the school situation, Maggie drove to Jody's with Ben and Luke to meet up with Claire. They were going to spend the whole week with her, part of which Maggie was spending with Claire to tour colleges in the area. They all kind of wondered if they were going to end up staying with Jody again. They missed her, and the even missed their old school. Things were easier there, and the only problem they had was that Sam and Dean didn't visit enough. If it wasn't for the bunker, Maggie was sure she could have convinced them to move to Sioux Falls.

"How long until we get to Madison?" Maggie asked as she flipped through a college pamphlet Jody gave them before they left.

"Well," Claire said slowly.

"Oh my God," Maggie rolled her eyes. "What now?"

"Okay, listen, we can tour colleges but we both know we're never going to go because we're going to end up hunting," she said. "And, there's this case near by and I could really use your help with it, and we could get some practice in."

"You're insane," Maggie seethed at Claire's hunting plan as they drove. "You're going to get me killed, if not by some supernatural monster than by my Dad."

"Relax, they won't find out," Claire rolled her eyes.

"They always find out," she said as she glanced at her.

"Well, they're not going to find out about this one," she said. "We're in Wisconsin, they're in Kansas and South Dakota. Even if they track your phone, they think we're looking at Wisconsin colleges, so we're good."

"You thought this one through didn't you?" she asked.

Claire grinned. "Come on," she said. "I could go without you, but we're a damn good team."

"Yeah, we kind of are." Maggie sighed with a smirk. "You're always getting me into trouble."

"More like I'm always giving you fun stories," she said. "Admit it, your life was boring before me, and these hunting stories make things interesting. I could tell you loads of stuff I've come across."

"You've been hunting again?" she asked.

"A bit," she nodded. "It's just who I'm going to be. We go through stuff and either we ignore all the crap that happened to us and we end up nurses like Alex, or we become badass hunters."

"Well, it is a bit of a boy's club," Maggie said.

"Exactly they need us. It's going to be fine, and probably a little fun," Claire said as she pulled into a motel parking lot. "Wait here, I'll go check us in and then we can go out and talk to some people."

Maggie waited until she saw Claire disappear into the office before she pulled her phone from her bag. She made sure to watch the door as she made a call she really didn't want to make.

"Hey Mags," Adam said. "How's the college tour?"

"Oh good," she said carefully. "Are you at the bunker?"

"Nah, out on a food run," he said.

"By yourself?" she asked.

"Yeah," he frowned. "Mags, what's up? What's going on?"

"Okay, I need your help," she said. "Claire was never going on college tours, she planned a hunting trip."

"Maggie," Adam said in a warning tone when he realized where this conversation was going.

"I didn't know anything about it," she said quickly. "But, I can't leave her. She's been hunting alone and she'll leave and I don't think she's in a great place."

"You need to call your Dad," he said.

"He'll kill me and she'll leave and hunt alone and then I don't know what will happen. She's spiraling and she's checked out from everything else except hunting. I can see it in her eyes, she's on a suicide mission," she said. "Please, Uncle Adam, just come get me. You used to hunt alone, maybe she'll listen to you."

Adam shook his head hard and sighed. "Where are you?"

"I'll text you my location," she said as she saw Claire walking back. "But, I have to go."

Maggie followed Claire to their room to drop off their bags and she texted Adam her location and room number when Claire was in the bathroom. The motel wasn't anything special, and it reminded Maggie of the stories her Dad would tell about the motel rooms he grew up in. They were lucky to have the bunker, she knew that, but there was something about being on the road. Part of her liked the idea of hunting and road tripping around the country, and the other part of her couldn't imagine living out of a suitcase and living off diner food.

"Okay, what is this case you found?" Maggie asked once they were back in the car.

"These kids were attacked, a brother and a sister," she explained. "The brother, Ben, he was killed and his heart was ripped out."

"Werewolf," Maggie nodded with a shrug.

"Sounds like it, and you know, we have some experience with that," Claire grinned at Maggie's glare. "The sister, Hayden, she lived but she's injured."

"So, what's your plan?" she asked. "Talk to her at the hospital, see what jumps out?"

"Yeah," she reached over and opened the glove box to pull some IDs out. "Here."

"Wildlife officers?" Maggie asked. "You need to work on these roles. It's not very realistic."

"Whatever," Claire rolled her eyes. "It will work."

But, she was wrong. It didn't work very well. Claire was being a little too pushy and Maggie could tell the mother wasn't buying that Claire was a wildlife officer. Maggie stepped in pretending to be a youth counsellor and got a few minutes alone with Hayden. She didn't learn much and she wasn't able to find out if she had been bitten or not either. They left with little information other than Hayden had been at a bar.

Claire also had fake IDs to get them into bars and although the bartender didn't look to believe those IDs either, he didn't seem to care as much. Maggie nursed a beer and Claire fished for information. It didn't go well either, mainly because Claire was a little rough around the edges, but the bartender was a little creepy and Maggie just wanted to get out of there.

She finally convinced Claire to head back to the hotel after a few hours of getting little to nowhere on the case. Maggie promised they would do some research in the motel room, regroup and then head out again in the morning. Aside from the impending doom Maggie felt was coming her way when her Dad found out where she was, she actually had a good night with Claire. She was able to get her to stop focusing so much on the case and just hang out like they used to.

The next morning Maggie headed to the bathroom as Claire was heading out on a food and coffee run. She opened the door just as Adam was about to knock and she almost jumped back when she saw him standing there. "Adam, damn," Claire said. "What are you doing here?"

"What are you doing?" he countered as he stepped inside and spotted Maggie lingering in the bathroom doorway. "Get out here, Maggie."

Even though she knew he was somewhat acting in an effort not to let Claire know Maggie sold her out, she still felt her stomach flip at his tone. Adam often rivaled Dean when it came to lectures and discipline. "You tracked my phone?" she asked.

Adam rested his hands on his hips and looked down at her. "I did," he said with a nod. "You know, I thought we were done hiding things from each other."

"Well, you clearly didn't trust me," she mumbled.

"Don't you dare turn this around on me, young lady." He said. "I had a feeling after your Dad called to let me know that he and Sam were taking a werewolf case right around Madison."

"What?" Maggie said, trying to search his face to find out if this was part of the plan or not.

"Hang on," Claire said. "I'm getting a call on the wildlife officer burner."

"Are you being serious?" Maggie whispered.

"Yes," Adam said. "He called me while I was driving here, but-"

"Dean," Claire rolled her eyes. "I know it's you."

"Uncle Adam, what am I going to do?" she whined after Claire hung up.

"It's fine," Claire downplayed. "I'll go meet with them and tell them that you're in Madison."

"They're never going to believe that," she said.

"Nope," Adam nodded toward the door. "Time for you to come clean, kiddo."

"I don't want to," Maggie mumbled.

"Well, you should have thought of that before you lied, again." Adam said. "Honestly, what were you thinking? Do you know how dangerous this is?"

"Look, I talked her into it," Claire said.

"Oh, I have no doubt about that," Adam said. "You want to get yourself killed, Claire? Fine, that's your business, but don't drag other people down with you."

"Adam," Maggie said, trying to stop him from hurting Claire's feelings.

"No, Maggie," Claire said. "Let him talk."

"Yeah, I'm going to talk and you're going to listen because I was you. Hunting is dangerous, but hunting alone is stupid," Adam said. "You're an adult, you can make your own choices, but if you keep making ones like this, soon enough you won't have any left to make because you'll be dead."

"Are you done?" Claire said. "You're right, Adam. I am an adult and this is my life, so thanks for the lecture but I don't need it. And, I sure as hell don't have to listen to you."

"You don't, but Maggie does," he said.

"Take her," Claire said. "I'm going to meet with the guys and finish this case."

Claire was gone and slammed the door behind her before Maggie could even react. "What just happened?" she asked. "Why did you attack her?"

"I didn't attack her, I told her some hard truths," he said. "She's reckless and because you care about her you'll follow her until it gets you killed. I'm not having it. Get your stuff and get in the truck."

"Uncle Adam," Maggie said softly. "We can't leave her here."

"I didn't say we were leaving her," he said. "We're going to let your Dad handle this one."

"Are you really that mad?" she said. "Can't we just go home?"

"I am mad," he nodded.

"At me?" she asked. "I called as soon as I could. I actually thought we were going to tour colleges."

"No, baby, not at you," he said as he softened. "I'm angry with her because she knows you aren't allowed to hunt and yet she keeps putting you in these situations. It's selfish."

"I think she's really struggling," she said. "We need to get her help."

"We will," he said as he guided her out the door. "Like it or not, your Dad and Sam are really good at this. They will help her."

OOOOO

Dean and Sam waited in the hotel lobby with Mick for Claire to arrive. He brought them the case and although they didn't want to work with him, they didn't want to leave the case to him alone, especially now that Claire was involved. Dean was getting impatient, with Mick on his last nerve and Sam was picking up on it and trying to ease the situation.

"I'm not going to be happy if she walks in here with Claire," Dean shook his head.

"Maybe it wasn't her," Sam shrugged.

"Oh, come on Sam," Dean scoffed. "What other brunette would be with Claire the same weekend those two are supposed to be touring colleges?"

"Alex?" Sam suggested and nodded toward the door. "There they are."

"They?" Dean raised a brow and turned to see Claire walk in with Maggie and Adam not far behind. He wasn't surprised to see Maggie, but he was surprised to see Adam. He didn't let it show, instead he just narrowed his eyes when Maggie got close enough. "You want to explain to me what you're doing here?"

"I ambushed her," Claire said. "Never even told her we were coming here until we got here. She really thought we were going to tour colleges."

"Why didn't you call me and tell me what was going on?" Dean asked as his eyes flickered back to Maggie after listening to Claire.

"Come on, Dean," Claire rolled her eyes. "Cause you're so approachable?"

"Claire, we'll talk about you hunting in a minute," Dean said. "Maggie, find your voice?"

"I couldn't leave her alone," she mumbled.

"We've been through this before and I don't like repeating myself," Dean said with a raised voice. "You're supposed to call me. You know that, so I want to know why I didn't hear from you."

"Dad," she said quietly. "Can we not do this here?"

Dean looked at her and knew something wasn't adding up. He glanced to Adam. "What are you doing here?" he asked.

Adam shrugged. "I checked in on her whereabouts after your call, had a hunch."

"And, you didn't call us because?" Dean pressed.

"Not going to leave her to face you alone," he said as he winked at Maggie. "Look, guys, we'll sort it out after. What's going on with the case?"

"He's right," Sam jumped in before Dean could keep lecturing. He sensed there was something Adam wasn't saying, he had years of practice reading his family members. His Dad yelled, Dean yelled, but Sam rarely yelled. He listened, even when people were quiet. "We'll talk about this later."

Claire filled the guys in on what they knew and Maggie kept quiet. Mick jumped in a few times and Sam was his usual self, but Dean was quieter than usual and that was never a good sign. They decided to separate and work on the case, but first Dean wanted some answers and pulled Maggie aside and Adam quickly followed them. Sam stayed with the others, mainly to give them space, but also to make sure Claire and Mick didn't get into it.

"I want to know what's going on and I want to know right now," Dean said.

"I called Uncle Adam after Claire told me about the case," she said. "I really thought we we're going to tour colleges."

"It's true, Dean," Adam said. "I covered for her because she didn't want to upset Claire."

"Daddy, she's really spiraling," she said. "I thought Adam could talk to her about hunting alone."

Dean sighed as he kept his hands on his hips and glanced at Adam before he looked back to his daughter. "You call me next time and explain it," he said. "I don't ever want to find you working a case like this again, do you hear me?"

"Yes, Dad." Maggie said.

He stared her down for a moment before he nodded. "Alright," he said. "Claire is hell bent on working this case, but I'll send Sam with her and maybe he can talk to her."

"What about me?" she asked.

"Come on Dean," Adam said. "Don't bench her."

"You can go with them," Dean said. "But you listen to Sam, and I mean it, for everything."

"Thanks Daddy," she smiled as she hugged him and he dropped a kiss to her head.

"We're still going to talk later," he said as she walked over to Sam.

"I'll go with them too," Adam said.

"No, little brother," Dean turned to Adam. "You're coming with me. We need to chat."

"Dean," Adam sighed. "I'm not going to apologize for being the person your kids call when they feel like they can't call you."

"You think that's what I'm upset about?" he said as he took a few steps toward him. "Don't forget little brother, I was that person for you."

"Exactly, Dean." He said. "I called you when I was too scared to call Dad, so what's the problem?"

"I don't want my kids to be afraid to call me," he said with a raised voice and Adam visibly backed down. "Look, I don't mind if they call you, as long as they call one of us, but you need to fill me in."

"What do you think I was doing?" he said. "I brought her here."

"You drove nine hours first," he said. "I called you twice and you never said a word."

"Fine, you're right," Adam nodded with a sigh. "I'm sorry, Dean."

Dean nodded and put a hand on his shoulder. "I'm glad you're sticking around," he said as he squeezed his shoulder.

They split up, Mack, Dean and Adam headed to the bar Claire and Maggie went to check out last night, and Sam took the girls to track down some of Hayden's friends. Maggie stayed pretty quiet on the drive as Claire filled him in and then she not so nicely told Sam he was too old to come inside.

"Come on, Sam," Claire said. "Who do you think the kids would rather talk to?"

"Fine," he sighed. "But, you're flying solo. Maggie and I need to talk."

Claire glanced at Maggie and they exchanged one of their looks. "Good luck," she said.

"Climb up here," Sam gestured and he helped guide her into the now empty driver's seat. "What's going on?"

"I didn't know anything about this," she said and he picked up on the whine in her voice. "I thought we were going to tour colleges and then she just sprung this on me. So, I called Uncle Adam because I thought maybe she would listen to him."

"They're a lot alike," Sam nodded. "But, why didn't you call us?"

"I didn't know you were working the case," she said.

"That's not what I asked, Maggie." He said. "Had we not been here, working this case, would you have told us?"

"Adam would have," she mumbled.

"Again, that's not what I asked." He said. "Why couldn't you call us?"

"I don't know, okay?" she said. "Dad used to cover for you all the time with your Dad. Why couldn't you call him?"

"Yeah, you're right," he nodded. "But, my Dad was a former marine and it was his way or no way. We were raised like soldiers that were never supposed to leave his ranks. All we want for you is to have the choices we didn't have and to pick a different path than what was handed to us."

"I know that," she stressed.

"And, I know you don't want to hunt, so what is going on?" he asked.

"She's not going to stop," Maggie looked at Sam with tears in her eyes and she shrugged. "She's Dad and I'm you. I can't leave her to do it alone."

Sam looked at her for a moment before he moved to get out of the car. "Come on," he said with a nod.

Maggie got out of the car and practically ran into his arms when they met around the front of the vehicle. He held onto her tightly and she almost disappeared into his embrace as he wrapped his arms around her.

"I don't know what to do," she said softly.

"What's going on?" Claire asked. Neither of them had noticed she came back outside but she had been watching them as she walked over. Sam was leaning on the car with his hands in his jacket pocket and that brooding look on his face when he was listening or thinking too intently because he was worried. Maggie was standing in front of him with her arms crossed, not in an angry way but in a defensive way, the way she acted when she was being lectured. She knew the Winchesters well enough now to know that something was brewing.

"Does Jody know what you're doing?" Sam asked.

"Kind of," Claire shrugged and dumped her bag in the car. "Look, I found out everything in there. Who Hayden was dating, what happened between them and how it involved her brother. I did good."

"Claire," Sam said, and the proud look she had on her face and her smile was gone with the one word, and then the conversation went south fast and Maggie felt more caught in the middle than ever.

"You know, I'm so sick of you guys dive bombing my life and acting like you care," she argued.

"We do care," Sam said sincerely.

"Then stop treating me like a child," she said.

"Then stop acting like one," he snapped back but he immediately regretted it. She stormed off and Sam sighed as he turned back to Maggie.

"This is why I haven't said anything," she said. "Adam snapped at her too and she took off. Now what?"

"Now, we go after her." He said.

OOOOO

Maggie was a blubbering mess when she came back to the hotel with Sam and Claire. Dean could barely understand her, but his eyes locked with Sam's. He was scared, he could see it immediately, and then he saw Claire. Sam was holding her, not just for comfort, but to support her and then he saw the blood on her. He grabbed onto Maggie's arms once she was in front of him and began to look her over quickly.

"Baby, breathe," he said as he shook her slightly. "Just tell me you're alright?"

"It's Claire," she choked out through the tears.


End file.
